Games (END)
by Dragneel777
Summary: Natsu and his team are called to participate in games much like the GMG! However with someone lurking in the shadows and Zeref's warning that someone is after Natsu's life these "games" may turn into a war. (SPOILER ALERT!)
1. Notes

**SPOILER ALERT!**

 **Well here we go, the main reason why I wanted a fanfic account in the first place. This story is book one to a series that I planned up. I am going to call it E.N.D (With the story name, nu duh.) So for anybody that may be confused if it does not say E.N.D in the title then it is not a part of the series. I'm saying that because I plan to have a lot of fanfics, so it will make it easier.**

 **This specific story starts after the Tartaros arc, but before Natsu leaves, I'm having it so there is a little more time in between.**

 **Hiro Mashima will probably finish the current arc before I am done with this series so if something else happens I'm still gonna keep it to my plot (If it is big enough I'll squeeze it in.**

 **I do have original characters but they're to keep the story moving and to give background.**

 **As for ships, this is going to be like the rest of my stories and keep it like the Fairytail manga.**

 **Each story will have an author's note in the front telling when the story is taking place in the manga.**

 **Feel free to review any time.**

 **But NO FLAMES.**

 **I hope you enjoy the series, it was fun to write!**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Alright! Book one here we come!**

 **Feel free to review!**

 **But no Flames plz!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail! Even though I would love to... probably a good thing I don't though...**

 **Anyway! All rights go to Hiro Mashima!**

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 **...FT...**

It was a bright sunny day in the port town of Hargeon. Fisherman were having a good catch and people were laughing in the market place.

It was the perfect day.

Making it the perfect reason for the town to be destroyed by a small band of Fairy Tail mages.

"I got it!" A blonde Celestial Spirit Wizard yelled as she ran around the corner to try and block their target's escape route.

It was a simple 10,000 jewel job, catch the criminal Discow Pasiago who had been spotted at several bars in the area.

The town wasn't overly joyful of the idea that it had been the Fairy Tail mages who had responded to their request- but it wasn't argued that the Fairy Tail guild was the strongest guild in Fiore, so they let it be and hoped that the damage bill would be kept under 400,000 jewel.

The job was made even easier since Pasiago had lime green hair, so the Celestial mage was easily able to chase him.

To Pasiago's surprise, a black haired - half naked guy stepped in front of him, colliding the side of his fist with his palm and yelled, "Ice Make Floor!" The ground under Pasiago's feet turned to ice and he slipped.

The green haired criminal could only stare in horror as the third Fairy Tail mage fell from the sky, fire licking around his fist. The fire mage grinned from ear-to-ear as he fell, fist posed and ready for a punch.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The Fire Mage's fist collided with Pasiago's face and the job was done.

Plus the damage was kept to the smallest amount the group had ever seen, resulting in three destroyed buildings, and a hole in the ground from the Fire Mage's last attack.

The fourth one approached, "Well done you three." Said the red-headed requip she walked up- a sword in her hand vanishing into mid-air

"Aye sir!" The final one flew down, "Although it was four." Said the flying blue cat.

"Forgive me," Erza said, immediately going into her over-dramatic mode, "I had figured that Natsu had jumped from the rooftop, it was an incredibly stupid thought on my part- as such you may hit me for my foolishness!"

"I'll pass." Happy said. Not daring to do such a thing- nor telling her that nobody would ever take up that request in fear of her mighty wrath that would soon follow after.

"Although that was almost record time!" The Celestial Mage, Lucy pointed out- her eyes practically glowing in happiness (not the cat), "And maybe I'll be able to cover my rent this time!"

"Well then, we should take him-" Gray said pointing to the limp rag the Fire Mage had picked up, "-to the guards." Gray normally wore simple black pants with a white shirt, with a silver necklace- but at the moment her was naked, leaving only the necklace on.

The Fire Mage gave his brilliant ear-to-ear grin, "Sounds good to me, I'm hungry."

"What you say Droopy Eyes!" The yelling match between the two mages thus commenced-

"You heard me Flamebrain!"

"Put some clothes on you pervert!"

"Shut up Dragon's Breath!"

"How about you make me Popsicle!"

"Knock it off you two!" Erza yelled, the air around her darkening and a razor sharp sword appearing in her hand, aimed at the two of them.

"Aye!" The two of them yelled and hugged each other out of fear performing a major overkill on the friend act.

Lucy sighed, the last thing she needed was two more Happys. Although she did wish that the Ice Mage would put on some clothes- because people were starting to show up. In the corner she saw a woman gasp and cover her little girl's eyes- Lucy turned beat red and just wanted to die.

"Good." Erza said as her sword disappeared once more- immediately the two boys calmed down, feeling safe knowing that their heads weren't going to get cut off- not at least yet. They let go of eachother and returned to their normal activities, Natsu talking with Happy, and Gray staring off into space.

Erza peeked over at the fire mage as he laughed and joked around with the blue Exceed. Something had been bothering him earlier that morning, but judging by the smile planted on his face- whatever it was, he had brushed it off.

You could recognize the fire mage from anywhere with his spiky, rosey pink hair, and his black-yet happy eyes. Not to mention the white scarf that was on him at all times. He wore his typical black with gold trim coat with one sleeve. It was zipped up on his chest but below a brown belt it was unzipped. He had white loose pants with sandals.

He was Natsu Dragneel, also known as The Salamander.

"Let's go retrieve our reward." Erza said, wearing her typical Heart Kreuz armor

Instantly Lucy perked up at the thought of being able to pay her rent. She was in her blue crop top and a black short skirt showing her figure.

. . . . .

"Ugh." Natsu groaned, his face turning multiple shades of green.

Lucy also slouched in her seat, "My rent money." She whined- the damage cost had, once again, been taken out of their reward money, leaving then just a bit short for her rent money, "My landlady is going to kill me."

Erza sat calmly in the bench across from Lucy, eating her strawberry cake, and staring out . the window at the beautiful landscape outside.

Gray sat up against the window, watching the motion sick Dragon Slayer. "You better not get my shoes dirty barf breathe," He snapped. Scowling at the sick Fire Mage and lifting up his feet, just to be on the safe side.

Natsu only leaned against the window- he was about to argue-oh he wanted to soooo bad- but his stomach twisted into knots, and he held his stomach and doubled over.

Lucy winced, watching her sick friend out of pity, and Happy sighed- used to the scene.

"I hate- trains." Natsu groaned and curled in tighter on himself, leaning on the cold window.

"We're almost there- hold on." Lucy said and Happy hopped over, pulling a fan out of that green bag on his back and started to fan off his sick friend- hoping that would at least give him a little comfort.

. . . . .

The gang was finally at the cute town of Magnolia. It was a peaceful town with the beautiful Kardia Cathedral- Past that was the well known guild hall for the Fairy Tail guild (A/N The second one) the town was nearby the water- and there were a lot of people due to a small festival going on at the moment.

Natsu kicked open the door to the guild, "We're back!" He yelled, and a bunch of other mages greeted them.

A beautiful white haired bartender looked up from the counter, "Welcome back she called out in a cheerful voice. Mira had once been a full time mage- she still had her terrifying She-Devil power, but she kept the job as the pretty bartender.

The guild hall was as insane as expected to be, laughing, dancing, and of course being a wizards guild- drinking. There were also soma small fights starting up, nothing too bad- they normally weren't until Natsu joined

The only one who was sitting still was a short old man sitting on the bar counter.

The old man was the guild's Master Makarov Dreyar, he was also appointed as one of the Ten Wizard Saints by the Magic Council- making him one of the ten most powerful mages in the country of Fiore (Probably making it a good thing that he wasn't picking a fight like the rest of the guild). He sat on the counter frowning at a piece of paper in his hand.

Lucy immediately wandered over to the short, blue-haired bookworm Levy, the solid script mage which matched her personality, so they could talk about whatever crazy novel they had read recently. Pantherlily, and Exceed just like Happy (But was black and a lot more powerful then him) sat on Levy's lap- his sword that grew much bigger when he was in his fighting form resting on the ground next to him.

Gray and Natsu wandered into the drinking crowd and Erza walked up to the Master, "We have returned Master." Ignoring the full out brawl that Natsu had started behind her by throwing a table at some guy that had pissed him off for whatever reason

For now.

"I'm glad you're back safely." The Master said and took a swig from his grog. He sighed then set down the huge cup of booze next to him and looked up at the requip mage

"Has something happened Master?"Erza asked, getting an odd feeling.

The Master took another swig, "Not yet- but something may happen soon." He said and looked around

Erza frowned, remaining silent- knowing full well that the Master would explain soon enough.

"I assume that the rest of your teammates are here?" Makarov asked and confirmed it upon seeing somebody with spiky pink hair throwing the huge Elfman at least twenty feet.

"Yes Master." Erza turned, "Natsu! Gray! Lucy!" She yelled- knowing full well that the three of them were still in the building.

The fight froze up at the sound of Erza's voice and desperately tried to act as if nothing had happened- despite the area around them and their own bodies being busted to hell

Lucy looked up and waved Levy by, walking over- not daring to deny the mighty Erza anything she asked.

"We were just hanging out!"

"Aye! Like the best friend we are!"

The two boys yelled and quickly pulled away from the old fight scene.

"I'm glad to hear that- but the Master wishes to speak to us." Erza said and everybody else sighed in relief for the fact that somehow she did not notice the fight-or just didn't care at the moment.

Natsu and Gray walked over- still with a nervous look in their eyes. "What's up Gramps?" The Fire Dragon Slayer asked. Pretty sure he was going to get scolded for breaking stuff again- that's what it normally was.

"We have received an odd request or the four of you, me and one other-" Makarov started but was interrupted by Natsu

"Wait, you?" Natsu nearly yelled. (He would've- hadn't Lucy elbowed him in the ribs.)

" _Ouch!"_

"Can they even request the Master?" Lucy asked Happy, who shrugged, not knowing the answer- he at least hadn't heard of anyone requesting a Guild Master.

"Who is the other?" Erza asked calmly- as if it were just a normal request-yet again, making the other mages sweatdrop. Was she seriously that calm? Or had she just not noticed how weird that was...

Well it was Erza.  
"Gajeel Redfox."

"WHAT!"All four of them yelled and turned to stare at the black haired, metal eating Dragon Slayer.

He glared at them in return.

Gajeel had long, black spiky hair with red eyes and piercings for eyebrows, on his nose his chin, and his ears. He wore a black trench coat with tan pants and a green turtleneck. He wore red- knuckled fingerless gloves and a yellowish clothe on his head to keep his hair out of his eyes. He was normally pretty serious- would've looked more serious at the time if his face hadn't been stuffed with iron, making his scowl look pretty idiotic.

Natsu growled, _he still didn't like him, he was almost worse then Ice Princess-_ but (Oddly enough) he kept quiet, although the bad gut feeling he woken up with was starting to come back.

Gray watched the Fire Dragon Slayer with a frown on his face- something was wrong, But he knew that the Flamebrain wasn't going to say anything.

"What's the request?" Gray heard Lucy ask, the Ice Mage quickly turned his attention back to the old man.

"Lord Backenstall has asked for our presence in Indum."

"Indum?" Natsu this time spoke up, he had been a lot of places- but Indum didn't even sound familiar.

"It's also known as Indum of Two Territories." Mira spoke up from behind the counter as she washed a plate.

"That's a long name to remember-" Natsu complained.

"Why is it called that?" Lucy cut in, while elbowing the Dragon Slayer in the ribs.

" _Ouch!"_

The others ignored him once again, continuing on with the conversation that was at hand. Mira set down the drying towel.

"The land is constantly being fought over by the two Lords living nearby... Lord Backenstall from the East and Lord Shantire from the west." MIra said reaching up to put the plate away then picked up another one, continuing on her chores, she hadn't ever even turned around in the first place when she was speaking with them.

"So we're going to Lord Broccoli?"

" _Backenstall_." Lucy hissed to Natsu, and Natsu was able to dodge another blow by only a few centimeters.

And that's how Makarov Dreyar, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Lucy Heartfillia, Erza Scarlet, and Gajeel Redfox were on a train- heading to the middle of nowhere.

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 **...FT...**

 **Wohoo!**

 **Well that's chapter one!**

 **Feel free to review, NO FLAMES!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Here we go! Chapter two!**

 **To answer toy2jzgte-**

 **Don't worry Wendy is in this story! (I ironically explain a bit in this chapter) but mainly I really like Gajeel and his relationship with Natsu. Every time they're together I tend to die of laughter- so that's why he's here! I'm glad you noticed though!**

 **Thank you for the review!**

 **And thanks for the favs and follows the action starts up soon!**

 **Hope you enjoy and like normal feel free to review, but no flames plz!**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima**

 **...FT...**

Natsu groaned and leaned into the cold window (Unfortunately the coolness of the window wasn't helping him), they had been on the train for hours, and he wasn't feeling any better.

Lucy peeked over at Natsu- who was sitting next to her, "Maybe we should have brought Wendy with us." She stated. Looking at the pathetic- looking Dragon Slayer practically dying in the seat next to her.

Gray peeked over,then frowned over at the sick fire mage, "Don't think it would've helped Barf-breath here is starting to develop a resistance to her Troia." He said, looking away from Natsu, "Besides she was out on a job with Carla."

Lucy nodded- although it was still odd that the young mage hadn't been called to these games with the rest of them. She was normally on their team, she was just taking a solo job that one time. The one time that she hadn't been there-

Natsu let out a whimper so uncharacteristic of him it made both of them wince.

Makarov- over in the other seat looked over (he had also heard Natsu's whimper), he sighed then looked at Gajeel- who was also turning green and was attempting to suppress pitiful groans himself.

He sighed once again.

Dragon Slayers...

...FT...

For being in the middle of nowhere the crowd was oddly crowded, and the Fairy Tail mages took notice of this rather quickly. The town was also much bigger than they thought it would be- making it practically the same size as Magnolia.

"What's going on?" Gray asked (somehow he had lost his shirt again), "A festival?" he wondered out loud- looking around at all of the temporary booths that had been set up. Most of them were food- but he was able to spot some game booths. There were magic shooting games, lacrima hoop toss- from where he stood however he could see that some of the games were rigged, he quickly made a mental note to chew those booths out later.

"Food." Natsu pointed out.

"We need to get to the client-" Lucy started to point out, they didn't have time for Natsu's idiocy- but was quickly cut off.

"Lord Brussel Sprouts can wait a couple of minutes. Natsu said and ran off, Happy tailing behind him- before anybody got the chance to tell him it was Lord Backenstall and not Brussel Sprouts.

Erza watched him run off, Natsu normally was hungry- but even this was odd. She would have to remember to interrogate him about that later-

Makarov sighed once again.

Surprisingly enough it wasn't too long before Natsu and Happy returned with full stomachs.

"No more sidetracks." Makarov insisted, immediately turning to Natsu who gulped and quickly nodded- knowing full well what the old man was capable of.

Then they moved on- making their way through the crowd.

Surprisingly enough it was a large enough of a town that they were forced to ask for directions to Lord Backenstall's house- making it odd due to the fact that Magnolia was quite easy to maneuver through. Each answer simply being "Go to the giant mansion on the East side of town."

It took a little while- but one they found the mansion they could only wonder how they had missed it.

Most of the other buildings in the town were two- with the occasional three stories tall- this one towered over the rest of the town with five stories.

"One person lives here?" Natsu asked, while he, Lucy, Gray, and Gajeel stood in a line- necks craned and mouths gaped open.

Even Makarov and Erza seemed a little surprised, this town seemed a lot bigger then either thought it would be. It was weird- especially since none to them had even heard of the place before- even the Master didn't seem to remember a town by the name of Indum- but it even had it's own train station.

The group carefully walked through the gate (once they were able to figure out how to open the damn thing) and knocked on the large double doors.

After a moment a small maid opened the door, "Yes?" she asked quietly- obviously quite timid with the six mages standing at the door (and a cat- which she found to be quite odd), "Can I help you?"

"Is Lord Backenstall here?" Makarov spoke up, "We're the mages of Fairy Tail that he asked for." He said- making sure that his voice sounded friendly.

It seemed to work, the maid seemed to be a little more relaxed as she spoke, "Let me go get him." The maid said and closed the door. Natsu's and Gajeel's sensitive hearing could hear the patter of her feet running. They peeked over at each other, something was off. A moment later heavier footsteps sounded and the door opened, revealing a middle aged man with just greying hairs and a mustache- he also wore a very nice white tux.

"Welcome, you are the mages of Fairy Tail I hear?" He shook Makarov's hand, "You're a little later then I expected though."

"Forgive our tardiness, one of us got sidetracked." Erza spoke and shot Natsu a _"I'll kill you later,"_ glare.

Natsu gulped and took a step back.

"Ha! Ha! Not a problem, you're not tardy! Come on in, we have tons to talk about!" He laughed then let the mages inside and led them to his office where he summoned another servant to get the mages chairs. The Lord at least seemed friendly enough.

Once everybody was seated and the doors were closed the conversation started up.

Natsu- as normal- jumped in, "So who do you need us to beat up?" He asked and slammed his fist into his palm in his _"I'm fired up!"_ sort of way.

Lord Backenstall laughed, "Straight to the point I see? Yes I do need you to beat somebody up Salamander, but it will be in a different way then you're imagining I bet." He said- looking quite amused by the Dragon Slayer.

Natsu frowned, not really understanding what Lord Backenstall was trying to get at.

Lord Backenstall continued, "Do you remember the Grand Magic Games a short while back?"

Natsu frowned and looked away- thinking back on the future Lucy's death, "How could I forget?"

Lord Backenstall quickly continued- seeing the pained look in his eyes, "Well I'm not planning on the same scenario that occurred after those games to occur, but these games-"

"Whoa-whoa back up," Gray cut in, "Games?"

"Yes I am getting a little carried away." Lord Backenstall sat back, thinking of where to start, "I assume that you know that this town is being fought over by myself and Lord Shantire?"

The mages nodded.

"Up until now those disagreements have been dealt with by violence in the streets. Seeing how it's not working I decided to take a different approach- one that both of us approve and like, the Grand Magic Games- to an extent. I have picked five teams and he has picked five teams. It was supposed to be simple, but unfortunately Shantire has decided to make this more difficult- and dangerous."

What do you mean by that?" Makarov asked.

"It seems to be that the five mage groups that Shantire has come up with are all from Dark Guilds." Lord Backenstall answered and watched their faces for reactions.

"Dark Guilds?" Lucy asked, sounding a bit nervous, and producing a bit of _"juice"_ as Happy would call it. Again- why had she been asked to go along?

Natsu remained silent- which the others found odd. Natsu frowned, the bad feeling in his gut returning- so bad in fact, he had to look out the window to make sure the house wasn't moving.

But he remained silent.

"So I guess we are one of the five teams?" Gray asked and wrote a mental note to ask the idiot what was going on later. He turned to face Lord Backenstall.

"My team from Fairy Tail shall be Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel, Gajeel Redfox, Gray Fullbuster, and Lucy Heartfillia. I asked your Master to come along to ask his permission." Lord Backenstall stated then looked over at Makarov for an answer.

Makarov looked around at his brats then sighed, "Only under one condition-"

...FT...

A few days later the team in their given hotel. The Master had wanted to wear a matching uniform- just like they did in the Grand Magic Games, but Gajeel argued that he would only wear his battle color black- and that made them look too much like a Dark Guild.

So it was decided that they were going to wear their normal Natsu was glad for- he never really did like his Grand Magic Games outfit.

-In fact none of them really minded that idea.

Natsu took a little time to stare out the window- that bad gut feeling starting to show itself again.

He frowned- this same feeling was present when they had fought against Tartaros quite recently. He flinched at the memory of his precious foster father, Igneel, lying dead before his eyes, and immediately shook his head to try and get himself out of that mind set.

Gray looked over at the Dragon Slayer and frowned, then he stood up and walked up to the fire mage, "Alright, you've been staring out a window a lot lately- what's up?" He kept his voice low enough so the others wouldn't hear.

Downstairs they could hear the racket of the rest of the guild (helping hiding Gray's voice from the others). The Master had sent them upstairs to have them get ready for the meeting that there would be later on that afternoon (A.K.A, not show up to the meeting drunk.)

Natsu shook head, "Nothing-"

"Bullshit, normally you'd be complaining about not being in the party downstairs." Gray snapped and grabbed his shoulder, "Now what the hell is wrong?"

Natsu stared at him and opened his mouth to argue.

There was a knock on the door and everybody turned, noticing the small bluenette in the doorway.

Wendy looked over her shoulder, "Lord Backenstall is here to pick you up."

"That's our cue," Natsu said and walked forward- but Gray hadn't let go of his shoulder yet, jerking him back.

Natsu glared back at Gray- only to meet glaring eyes right back at him, "We're finishing our conversation-"

"No need to." Natsu snapped and pulled away.

The five of them walked out front and immediately Natsu and Gajeel wanted to die- both of them feeling sick just from staring at the carriage.

"I hate this."

"Wanna walk?" Gajeel offered.

"I'm with you on that one."

"Get in you two." Erza ordered.

...FT...

Lord Backenstall was trying to explain what was going on- but it was proving to be difficult with the two Dragon Slayer practically dying in the back.

Natsu was leaning out the cart with Lucy holding on to him, "Careful! You'll fall out!"

"That's the idea-" Natsu whined.

Gajeel was starting to agree with him.

"Keep it quiet over there Bar-breath." Gray snapped.

"Shut it Frostbite-" Natsu had to stop because he was about to taste his lunch again. He groaned and leaned out the window even more.

That's when he noticed somebody in the crowd. He did everything in his power to push himself- seeing the person turn away from him.

Lucy turned, "Careful, you'll fall-" She stopped- when Natsu didn't answer or groan, she knew something was up, "Natsu?"

"Stop the cart." Natsu said- suddenly serious, then- not waiting for an answer- he jumped out of the cart and ran into the crowd.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled.

Gray looked over at Erza then jumped up, quickly following the Fire Dragon Slayer. He knew something was wrong- both he and Erza did- especially now that Natsu had ran off such a strange fashion, even for him.

He chased after the Dragon Slayer, running as fast as he could through the crowd. He was doing a good job weaving through groups of people- barely even slowing down, but something was wrong. He was losing Natsu rapidly- Natsu was moving too fast to be possible in such a crowd. It was as if something was making Gray go slower- but was speeding up the Dragon Slayer. _We're going to get separated if this keeps up!_

"Yo! Flamebrain! Slow down!" The ice mage tried yelling but it looked as if the other mage had not heard him, "Natsu!" He yelled as loud as he could to grab the idiot's attention.

But it was too late, he had lost sight of him. He stopped, "Shit."

...FT...

The Dragon Slayer ran as fast as his feet could carry him, which was pretty fast. He had chased the person out of the crowd and into one of the back alleys, "Hey hold up!" He yelled- but the person ignored him.

Up ahead the person in the hood turned around a corner.

Natsu scowled- picking up his pase and turned the corner- and stopped. The person he had been chasing had stopped and now was facing him.

"Why'd you run?" Natsu demanded, "That's not normally like you."

"I wished to speak with you one-on-one." A male voice said and pulled down his hood- revealing black hair and sad black eyes- much like Natsu's but were missing the friendly shine in them.

His name was Zeref, the Black Wizard.

Natsu scowled- the last time he had seen this man had seen this man was just before Igneel had been killed. He had told him that day that if Natsu had lived through the ordeal then he would give him even more despair.

Natsu had got just that.

"Yeah- but you normally appear when I'm alone." Natsu said and pointed to him with a glare in his eyes, "You haven't drawn me away from people before."

Zeref smiled sadly and spoke, "True- but it seems that you won't be alone much during this event." He said, "I have come here to warn you."

"Warn me?" Natsu cut in, "You're the Black Wizard, why would you be worried about me?" Natsu demanded.

"For reasons that I cannot tell you about yet." He answered quickly- which irked Natsu, but before he could argue Zeref continued, "However it is for that very same reason that you are being hunted."

Natsu chose to remain silent.

"One of the Dark Guilds involved in this 'game' know something about you that you are not even aware of. They wish to kill you-"

"You're not making any sense-"

"You cannot die- because only you or E.N.D can kill me." Zeref continued, not offering any clarification.

"What-" Natsu tried to cut in again- Nothing Zeref was saying was making any sense to him- not like it ever did.

"NATSU!" Gray's voice yelled- Natsu peeked back.

"Don't die." Zeref said and disappeared just before Gray ran around the corner.

Natsu stared at the spot Zeref had just been standing as Gray ran up and grabbed his arm, "What the hell was that? Why the hell did you run off?"

"He's gone-"

"Who's gone?" Gray demanded sharply, then looked at the spot Natsu was staring at then shook the fire mage- trying to gain his attention. "Who was it?"

"Zeref."

Gray was taken back, "Zeref" He stepped in front of Natsu and shook him once again, "He's here? Did he do anything?" He demanded sternly.

Natsu hesitated- then shook his head and heard his own voice say, "No- I lost him." He didn't know why he had lied to Gray- guess he didn't, he just add the full detail about what had happened.

Gray frowned- he knew that the Dragon slayer was hiding something, but decided not to push it- not like Natsu would tell him something he wanted to hide anyway, he was too damn stubborn. Then looked at the spot Zeref had been- mumbling, "Five Dark Guilds- and now Zeref? I've got a bad feeling about this."

Natsu nodded, he had had that same bad feeling for days now- it was only intensified by the presence of the Black Wizard, "Same."

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 **Chapter Two is done!**

 **Feel free to review, but no flames plz!**

 **I'll make sure to update again soon!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter three here we come!**

 **Thanks for the reviews from**

 **-Ink walking**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Snowflake (guest)**

 **-And everybody else for the reviews!**

 **Also thanks for all the favs and follow!**

 **Feel free to review! No flames plz!**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima!**

 **...FT...**

They had decided not to tell the other three. They told them that Natsu had recognized a scent and followed after it- which was mostly the truth. They just left out a crucial detail.

That earned Natsu a slap from Erza, "Don't ever worry us like that again you fool!" She yelled- the force of her attack sent Natsu back.

Natsu mumbled an apology and sat down.

...FT...

They entered the mansion once more. Gray and Natsu walking close- a little behind the others, both of them thinking about the same person- but for different reasons.

Zeref.

Backenstall led them to a large office, where the Fairy Tail members just stopped and stared.

Five members of Sabertooth were the second team- including the the White Dragon Slayer with blonde hair, Sting Eucliffe. The Shadow Dragon Slayer Rogue Cheney, the beautiful black-haired Lady of Sabertooth- Minerva Orland. The huge, bulky green-haired Lightning God Slayer Orga Nanagear, and finally the long blonde hair man with a outfit and a hat (with a feather) that made him look even more ridiculous then his name- Rufus Lore.

"Natsu-san!" Sting yelled and ran up, giving Natsu a high five, "I figured that you'd be here when I heard that Fairy Tail was one of the teams!"

"Yeah- good to see people I recognize." Natsu replied.

"My servants should be retrieving the other teams as we speak. You'll find that you'll recognize most of them Natsu Dragneel." Lord Backenstall said and sat down.

"Such beautiful ladies in this room." A golden haired man appeared out of nowhere- not too far behind him was a tall dark haired man with tan skin and a smaller boy with blonde hair.

Those three in order were Hibiki Lates, Ren Akatsuki and Eve Tearm- or the Holy Knights of Blue Pegasus.

A beautiful blonde haired woman stepped in the room, "This is quite a nice place." Jenny Realight of Blue Pegasus said.

"Wait- if they're here-" Gray started.

And Erza finished his statement with a sick look on her face, "Then _he's_ here."

"What a lovely sweet parfume," said a sickly sweet and smooth voice. Along with the sound of sniffing behind the requip mages back.

It didn't even take Erza a second to punch him- sending the fifth team member of Blue Pegasus flying.

"Meeeeeen!" He yelled as he crashed into the wall.

To put it simply Ichiya had that face that nobody would need to explain-

"Great he's here." Lucy whined.

"I had actually asked for another-" Lord Backenstall stated, "But _he_ came here instead. Something about 'His Honey' being here."

Everybody sweatdropped.

"I'm not your honey!" Erza screamed and summoned her sword. Luckily before anything could happen the fourth team started to arrive.

It started with the entering of a large bald man, he was the Wizard Saint Jura from Lamia Scale.

Behind him stood four people, including a pink haired girl about Wendy's size. A white haired man about Gray's size, a blue haired man with huge eyebrows, and a taller brown haired idiot with dog ears. The last four in order were Sherria Blendy, Lyon Vastia Yuka Suzuki and Toby Horborta from Lamia Scale.

"Lyon?" Gray said.

"Hey, did you fix that stripping habit of yours yet? I see not." Lyon said.

Gray looked down at himself to see himself half naked, "What the-" He looked at Lyon, "You're one to talk! You're not any better!"

Lyon looked down at his own half naked body, "Where the hell did my clothes go!"

"Way to go pervert." Said a green haired girl from the fifth team- Arana Web from Mermaid Heel. Behind her walked in a fat girl with curly black hair- Risley Law. Then a small brown haired girl in overalls walked in next to her- Beth Vanderwood.

The fourth one practically tackled Erza, "Nyah! Erza-nee!" The girl had longer brown hair with cat ears and a tail- she was Millianna of Mermaid Heel.

Then finally the last teammate walked in- a girl with long black hair and a sheathed sword, Kagrua Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel.

Lord Backenstall smiled, "Looks like all here."

Everybody in the room looked around at their twenty four other teammates.

Natsu frowned. Every one of these people had taken part in the Grand Magic Games. Backenstall had said that Natsu would recognize most of them- he was wrong, Natsu recognized every one of them.

Made him wonder how many of the Dark Guild members he would recognize?

He thought back on what Zeref had said.

And if what he said was true, then one of those Dark Guilds wanted him dead.

He shifted his position, he wasn't able to tell Gray- but he knew he at least had to tell Master Makarov. Even if he wasn't positive the threat could still be there- he just wasn't too sure how to bring up that he had a face-to-face conversation with the Black Wizard-

"I guess it's time to start explaining the rules of the game." Lord Backenstall stated, immediately drawing in everyone's attention (even Natsu's- surprisingly enough).

"Each round will have different rules that I or Shantire know about, but the main rule is whoever wins- the point shall go to the Lord they represent. So as long as one of the twenty five of you here win then I get the point- making your only enemy here the people representing Shantire."

"So we can work together?" Erza asked and Lord Backenstall nodded in reply.

"Sound like a large version of the Oracion Seis." Eve stated.

"Hopefully it doesn't get that dangerous." Lucy whined.

"Don't worry-" Hibiki said, immediately taking the opportunity to flirt. "You have your knight here to protect you."

Lucy sweatdropped, "I think I'll pass."

"Still-" Sting spoke up, "Only one of the twenty five of us has to win? Seems to me like pretty good odds."

"Except the other side also has twenty five people- making the odds even again." Ichiya pointed out, "Men!" He yelled and Sting looked like he was going to be sick.

"True." Rouge nodded- careful not to look at the ugly troll.

Natsu slammed his fist into his palm and grinned from ear-to-ear, "I'm all fired up!"

The others in the room smiled at the Dragon Slayer's optimism.

...FT...

The next day everyone had gotten up early, a task no one had been found over- the party the night before wasn't helping either.

Gajeel walked over to Natsu as he was stuffing his face, "Yo Salamander."

"Whah-"

"Come with me- I need to talk to you." Then he turned and walked away before Natsu could answer.

Natsu frowned- but complied and followed him out into the hall, "What's up?" he asked as soon as they had stopped.

Gajeel turned, "I'm not getting any good feelings about these games- and I can tell that you aren't either."

Natsu frowned- looking around to make sure no one was in listening range, Gajeel must've already thought about that since there was nobody nearby. He turned and thought back on what Zeref had said, "So you think that there's something big happening here?"

"Do you."

Natsu shrugged, "I dunno, just got a bad feeling-" Again he had no idea why he had lied.

"We both got bad feeling, meaning that we both need to keep an eye out." Gajeel said and turned away. "Never ignore the instincts of a dragon."

Natsu nodded, remembering the Fire Dragon King Igneel telling him that when he was younger. No doubt that the Iron Dragon Slayer had heard the same thing from the Iron Dragon Metalicana.

"You keep an eye out too." Natsu said.

Gajeel nodded then left, leaving Natsu standing in the hall pondering over what he said.

 _Great, the feelings gotten even worse now._

He had also lost his appetite.

" _Never ignore the instincts of a dragon."_

Natsu scowled- glaring at the ground, "I'm sorry Igneel." He turned and started running in the direction of the Fairy Tail Master, "I'm such an idiot."

...FT...

Each team was led to a set of doors, "When the doors open walk through." Lord Backenstall told the Fairy Tail team.

Gajeel peeked over at Natsu and the Salamander nodded back.

The doors opened on their own, "Let's go get 'em."

Then Team Fairy Tail walked through the doors. The crowd was up in the stands cheering down at them. It was almost exactly like the Grand Magic Games, just minus the booing- which the mages were grateful for.

Erza looked around, the stadium was huge- even bigger then the one in Crocus. She frowned, they had never heard of this town- and yet, there were so many people, and the stadium-

"Team Fairy Tail of Erza Scarlet! Gray Fullbuster! Gajeel Redfox! Lucy Heartfillia! And Natsu Dragneel!" An announcer shouted from who-knows-where and the crowd cheered even louder.

"Now the final team for Lord Backenstall! Team Sabertooth with Sting Eucliffe! Rogue Cheney! Minerva Orland! Orga Nanagear! And Rufus Lore!" The announcer yelled and the cheering continued

Natsu took his turn to look around- the other teams for Lord Backenstall had been called before them.

"Now from Lord Shantire! Team Raven Tail!" The Fairy Tail members jumped at the name.

Makarov peeked up _Raven Tail?_

Lucy was shocked, "But Flare said that they had been disbanded."

Gray scowled, "This just spelled more trouble."

"Nullpudding!"

Gray scowled.

"Sally Tempus! Orba! Kurohebi! Ivan Dreyar!"

Makarov stared _what? His son!_

Macao peeked over at the pale man, who was pale white.

 _This isn't good._

"Team two- Team Naked Mummy! Zato! Gato! Bonza! Caliz! Maron!"

Nobody really freaked out about that guild, they always got their butts handed to them every time they appeared.

"Team three from Death Cloud!"

Natsu perked up- he didn't recognize that group.

"Kirisa! Titanro! Pantos! Iia Muiani! Dallas Korogormi!"

Natsu eyed the newcomers. Kirisa was a little purple haired girl- wearing a light purple dress to match. Titanro was a tall man with a bird mask on. Pantos was short, yet bulky- he looked like a boulder.

Iia Muiani was a beautiful black haired woman black haired woman wearing a long white kimono.

Dallas Korogormi seemed like a normal brown haired middle ages man in a business suit.

"Team four from Death Head Caucus!"

The Fairy Tail team groaned as the next team came out.

The Trinity Raven! Ikaruga!"

Erza scowled- seeing the pink-haired woman.

"Fukuro!"

Natsu tried to push back memories of the owl-headed man.

"Vidalus Taka!"

Lucy groaned seeing the long haired rock guitar mage, "So he grew his hair out again-"

Juvia was glad that she wasn't down there, "Be careful Gray-darling."

"Intriamo! Kizaiko!"

Two other people walked out, they were black haired twins- one wearing rags and the other wearing a suit.

The final team was a Dark Guild known as Black Knight, another Dark Guild the mages hadn't heard of. The five people were Mourn (couldn't see what he looked like 'cause he was wearing a huge black cloak.) Timiatu- a tiny man with huge glasses and blue hair. Sineal- a grey haired man who looked like he was trying to dress like a vulture. Saborka, a tall woman with golden hair. The last one was Kirum Kortorzi, a huge man who everybody got a nervous feeling off of.

The bloody chains attached to his side like Lucy's whip didn't help.

Natsu looked around, if Zeref was speaking the truth, one of those Dark Guilds wanted him dead.

Lucy looked over at Natsu, "You okay?"

Natsu gave her a smile, "Yup!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats!" The announcer yelled and the crowd cheer even louder- sitting down.

Each of the guilds were able to see the rest of the guilds in a separate section (normal guilds on one side Dark Guilds on the other).

Makarov frowned and remained standing. "Be careful my brats."

The cheering slowly subsided and the announcer continued.

"The first round will be based off one's survival abilities. One representative from each Guild will go at a time! Whoever survives the longest wins!"

"Simple enough." Natsu said.

"Simple! Surviving means that we may die!" Lucy shouted.

"Don't worry." They turned back seeing a short green haired man- they recognized the announcer's voice. "You can't actually die in the illusion. It will seem like you die, then you will return to the real world completely unharmed." Then he pulled up a lacrima microphone as he walked towards the center of the arena where a huge black cloud had appeared. "Will each with their names called step forward!"

"Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel!"

This surprised Natsu _right off the bat huh?_

"Sabertooth, Sting Eucliffe!"

"Yes!" Sting whispered and stepped forward, glad to be in the same group as Natsu.

"Blue Pegasus, Ichiya!"

"Men!"

"Lamia Scale, Yuka Suzuki!"

He stepped forward.

"Risley Law!"

"I'm in!" The girl yelled and pumped her fist into the air, walking forward.

"Raven Tail, Ivan Dreyar!"

Makarov scowled- looking down at his son, go figure- only Natsu's luck to be put up against Ivan in the first round.

Laxus peeked over at his grandfather, who clearly wasn't happy with this idea- he wasn't either in fact. He turned back, looking down at Natsu- Ivan was the type to try anything as long as it hurt Gramps in the end, and he didn't think Natsu would be left off that list. Most certainly when his own son hadn't been taken off the list of people to hurt. "Watch your back Natsu." He said hoping that Natsu's incredibly enhanced hearing would be able to pick up on that.

It must've worked because Natsu peeked up at him and nodded before turning back to the announcer.

"Naked Mummy, Bonza! Death Cloud Pantos!"

Each of them stepped forward.

"Death Head Caucus, Fukuro!"

Natsu scowled as the owl-headed man stepped up.

"That sucks." Gray whistled, knowing full well why the Dragon Slayer was acting the way he was. Fukuro had eaten Natsu at the Tower of Heaven.

Seemed like the Dragon Slayer hadn't fully gotten over it yet- not that he could blame him really.

"And Black Knight Sinel!"

The man stepped forward.

"Good luck." Lucy whispered to the Dragon Slayer.

"Keep your eyes out." Gajeel told Natsu flatly- eyeing Ivan.

Natsu peeked over at the Fairy Tail Guild Master's son and nodded, then he stepped up with the others.

"The rules are simple, keep it clean. In the illusion you aim for the kill- however, do not go overboard.

 _Overboard-_

Natsu knew he was out of luck.

"Now step into the cloud and let round one begin!"

Natsu looked at the cloud and exhaled- the bad feeling intensifying once more.

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 **That was chapter three!**

 **Feel free to review- but no flames plz!**

 **I'll update again soon!**


	5. Chapter 4

**This one took a little longer than the other chapters to post because I was out for the weekend sorry for the wait!**

 **Thanks for the reviews from**

 **-Inkwalking**

 **-Dank Dang**

 **-Snowflake**

 **To Inkwalking-**

 **Teehee! Who me? (Insert obviously fake innocent face here)**

 **And let the games begin!**

 **Feel free to review, but no flames plz!**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima!**

 **...FT...**

Natsu stepped into the cloud and for a second his feet felt like they weren't on the ground, then he stumbled into a swamp.

"What the-" He looked around, all he could see was thick trees, swamp water, and the muddy ground.

The water was thick and slimy, it also had a weird smell to it, forcing the Dragon Slayer to cover his nose, "Damn." Then he coughed- making him notice that he really get a good breathe of air in.

 _Is this really an illusion?_

He was impressed. Everything seemed so real- He coughed then moved his hand and checked for any scents. Besides the sulfur of the water he could only smell a few other people- and they were faint, he knew the smell of the water was blocking his full sense of smell. He scowled, then was able to catch a smell much closer.

He looked over and saw Mermaid Heel Risley- glad to see that it wasn't an enemy, because of the water he hadn't noticed her until she was practically on top of him. _I'm out in the open like this._ Risley was trudging through the water and hadn't noticed him.

 _Geez, does this place delude eyesight as well?_ He thought- scratching his very noticeable pink hair. He sighed and was about to approach when he noticed the ripple in the water that was heading toward Risley at a rapid pace.

"Risley!"

Suddenly she was pulled under the water and the ripple started to move towards Natsu.

Using fire under his feet like launchers, Natsu hurled himself out of the water- grabbing a tree branch above him. Pulling himself up just as a giant fish tried to bite down on his ankle, missing him by inches.

He pulled himself up, "You aren't eating me you stupid fish!" He yelled and jumped down fist on fire and punched, making that part of the swamp splash up and the mud catch fire.

The swamp water flowed back in and Natsu watched as the fish swam around him, _how the hell did I miss that?_

The fish had started to come closer to him when all-of-a-sudden a flock of birds took off from the water and the fish went after them at full speed- catching a few of the stragglers.

Natsu watched the fish as it came closer to him and swam around him, not making any move to attack him.

 _It goes after movement!_ Natsu slowly moved his hand, pulling up a rock from the swamp floor then threw the rock as far as he could- hearing the satisfying splash of the rock hitting the water out of his sight.

The fish must've noticed it too because it sped off, as soon as it was out of sight Natsu made a mad dash out of the water and onto dry land.

He groaned and sat back onto a fallen log. When he had signed up for this he thought he would be fighting people- not fish.

Natsu looked up at the sky and stared, he saw the faces of every person taking part.

So far three were crossed off, Risley rom Mermaid heel was one of them.

Along with Bonza of Naked Mummy and Sinel of Black Knight, "Those people must've lost already.

He frowned- Naked Mummy didn't really surprise him, but the Black Knight Dark Guild- he knew nothing about them. To be out so soon meant that they were really weak, or had really bad luck.

He was mildly surprised to see that Ichiya was still in- meant nobody found him yet.

Natsu sniffed the air one more time- focusing, he was able to pick up Fukuro's scent.

Then he heard the sound of a motor, "Crap!" Moving as fast as he could he moved out of the way as the owl man shot by.

"I found you!" The owl man yelled, adding a little "hoot" to the word "you".

"And I already know you weakness, hoot!" He said then- with a cooing noise- shot at Natsu.

"Ain't no way in hell I'm doing that again!" The Dragon Slayer yelled, then ran into the thickness of the trees.

Fukuro had to stop, he- just like Natsu had planned- was too big to get through the trees. "Running are yoooou?" He turned his head three-sixty, trying to find the Fire Mage- but saw no sign of him.

"It seems yooou have some wits after all, hoot."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Natsu yelled and jumped down from the tree, his fist on fire. One punch crushed the jet pack. Then he spun around, his foot on fire and kicked him back. "Geez, I'm not a complete dumbass."

Then the Salamander sucked in air, "Fire Dragon-"

Another voice interrupted him, "Thunder parfume, one hundred percent potency!"

A weird cloud formed around Fukuro then lightning struck and everything blew up with electricity, "What the!"

Natsu peeked back, "Lightning?"

He peeked up, seeing Ichiya looking down at him, in another of his weird poses. "I hope you are alright Natsu-san?"

Natsu stretched, "Yeah I had him."

"Men!" Ichiya switched into another odd pose.

Natsu stared at him for a moment then looked away, "Can you tell if anybody else is nearby? Whatever is in that damn water is really messing with my sense of smell, I couldn't even tell that you were here."

"Yes, it seems that whatever is in that water is also affecting my Parfume abilities- they only seem to work at full potency. I was able to find you by your yell. Men!" He switched poses, "Still- it bothers me, three of the five of us here rely so heavily on smell." He switched poses, "Yet they send us to this landscape."

Natsu frowned.

"Natsu-san I advise you to look up." Ichiya said.

Natsu looked up at the faces in the sky, Fukuro was crossed off. Along with Yuka of Lamia Scale, Pantos of Death Cloud, and Sting of Sabertooth.

"Sting." This surprised Natsu, _what the hell had happened?_

"That leaves three of us left, men!" Ichiya changed his pose, "You, me, and-"

"Ivan." Natsu finished. He looked ahead, the only time Ivan had fought was at the Grand Magic Games against Laxus, and that had been hid by an illusion- so in short, he had no idea what Ivan was capable of.

"Well then let's go find him."

"I agree, but once Ivan is dealt with only one of us can be the winner- so we will have to fight." Ichiya said.

Truth be told Natsu wasn't too worried about it, but he scratched the back of his head anyways, "Well it doesn't really matter does it? As long as one of us wins then Lord Bean sprout or whatever gets his point." He thought out loud.

"True." Ichiya changed his pose, "But I do wish to see how much stronger you have become since the Oracion Seis, so after we defeat Ivan I challenge you to a one-on-one." He finished with another pose.

"Sound like fun to me. Now let's go kick Ivan's ass!" Natsu slammed his fist into his palm, "I'm all fired up!"

...FT...

Makarov watched Natsu through the lacrima, he seemed to be doing fine.

However what Natsu had told him still bothered him.

According to Zeref, one of the Dark Guild wanted Natsu dead. Not really the best source to go off of- but the gut feeling was still there. Growing rapidly by the second, since Ivan- the most powerful member of Raven Tail- was till near him.

Plus Sting had lost this round for mysterious reasons, it wasn't caught on the lacrima, and Sting didn't remember "dying".

Makarov looked down at Sting, who was watching the lacrima with his full attention.

Makarov looked back at the Lacrima- focusing on Natsu who was talking with Ichiya and pointing at something, _be careful there you brat._

...FT...

Erza watched from where the other teams were. She could see all the Dark Guilds from where she stood. She looked up and could see Lord Backenstall and Lord Shantire.

Lord Shantire looked to be younger then Lord Backenstall, a little older then she was with short black hair and brown eyes.

He wasn't what she had expected him to be, in fact that's how she felt about this whole town.

They hadn't heard of this place, yet everything seemed so fancy.

Then there was the strange look on Shantire's face- she didn't know how to describe it. He seemed interested in the fight but the look on his face seemed different than the one on Lord Backenstall's face.

Erza peeked over at the Master, who seemed to be nervous- no doubt because of his son, Ivan, had made an appearance.

But it wasn't just him who seemed to be nervous- something had been bothering Natsu, he tried to push it off but she could tell that it was still bothering him.

Even Gray seemed to be bothered by something, he had told her that Natsu had recognized a scent- so he jumped out of the cart. She got the feeling that he wasn't telling the full truth, but seeing as they were alright without even a scratch she decided to let it slide.

For now.

Then there was Gajeel, who was acting ancy. She tried asking Pantherlily about it and he said that, "Gajeel mentioned that he had a bad feeling about these games."

She frowned, so did she- but she decided just to be like Gajeel, sit back and keep an eye out.

...FT...

Natsu and Ichiya walked through the swamp silently, since their sense of smell was pretty much gone they had to rely on Natsu's excellent hearing.

Natsu frowned- he could hear birds and their footsteps in the mud. He could hear the huge fish swimming around nearby.

Then he heard it, a human heartbeat. He stooped- there was his and Ichiya's, along with a third one.

Ichiya kept his voice quiet, "Where? Men!"

"Behind us." Natsu peeked back.

Ichiya nodded and turned, "Come out Raven Tail, you cannot hide from the excellent hearing of a Dragon!"

They heard a deep laugh as the large form of Ivan stepped out of the trees. "No I guess I cannot. Not that I mind, I like a face-to-face fight much better than that sneak attack garbage."

"Your actions in the Grand Magic Games would say otherwise." Ichiya stated, "Men!" Then he changed his pose.

"Stand out of my way troll-face." Ivan said, "I would much rather fight the infamous Salamander of Fairy Tail."

"So you are targeting the Salamander?"

Natsu stood shocked, _Zeref was telling the truth!_ Although- he hadn't been expecting the answer so soon.

"Are you ready to fight Natsu-san?" Ichiya asked, getting into another of his weird poses.

Natsu slammed his fist into his palm, "Bring it!"

"Shikigami Torrent!"

Natsu was immediately caught up in a torrent of those white Shikigami dolls, pushing him back.

"Dammit!" He cursed as he tried to fight them off.

"How about this parfume?" Ichiya yelled and opened one of his vials, "This will lower your magic ability-"

"-Except with this damn swamp I can't smell a thing." Ivan pointed out.

"Men!"

"Shikigami bomb!"

Several of the white dolls fused together and exploded, "Meeeen!" Ichiya yelled then he was gone and his face was crossed off in the sky.

"Now then." He turned to Natsu, who was still stuck in the torrent. "I shall deal with you. It should give the old man a heart attack to see what I can do to his precious children." He chuckled and walked towards the torrent.

"Get-" Natsu was getting angry, he could barely move, "Get these damn things off of me!"

He had just fought off a bunch of demons, no way was he going to be taken down by a bunch of dolls.

The image of Igneel passed through his mind again and he gritted his teeth.

 _And I have a dragon to kill_

That anger turned into a huge pillar of fire that burned away all the shikigami dolls. He pointed to Ivan- still fuming. "You just got done saying that you like a face-to-face fight! How am I supposed to fight when I can't even move!"

"Well then show me what you can do Dragon Slayer."

...FT...

Natsu sent another flaming punch and it went right through Ivan.

 _Damn! Another illusion!_

Natsu landed on his feet stumbling a bit- he knew that he was getting nowhere like this, only wasting his magic energy. _I need to figure out a way to beat this guy fast!_ He peeked back, just in time to get slogged in the face.

Natsu slammed into a tree and rolled to the ground, then he quickly pushed himself up and glared at Ivan.

"Are you getting frustrated Dragon Slayer?" Ivan mused then appeared behind Natsu, kicking him.

Natsu grunted and flew- landing in the swampy waters.

Immediately the sulfuric smell made Natsu choke, he coughed and sputtered- pushing himself up.

Then he felt something bump his foot. He peeked back and froze, seeing the huge fish that had pulled Risley under.

Ivan had obviously not seen it 'cause he splashed over to Natsu, "What's this giving up already? I expected more from the infamous Salamander."

Natsu peeked back just as Ivan grabbed his neck and hoisted him into the air- making him choke.

An idea bubbled in his mind, he grabbed Ivan's wrist- trying to pull it away.

Ivan sneered, clearly amused by Natsu's weakened fighting- but missing the fact Natsu's foot had just been lightly moving in the water.

Then his foot stopped moving, since he could hear it- Natsu sneered and said as best as he could since he was choking, "You lose."

Ivan frowned and shifted his feet, "What are you-"

Suddenly something grabbed Ivan's foot and pulled, sending them both crashing into the water.

Natsu's head smacked against a rock and he gasped, inhaling the murky water. He pushed himself up, hacking and choking.

Keeping ahold of his scarf (which had slipped off in the fall) he dragged himself on to the shore where he lay coughing up water and trying to breathe.

He vaguely remembered seeing Ivan being dragged underwater.

Natsu gave a little smirk- _See, I can plan ahead…_

Then he coughed a few more times- not sure, or wanting to know what he was coughing up, and his head pounded. Reminding him that he had smacked his head pretty hard in the fall. He touched the bump on the back of his head and winced as the pain shot through his head.

He groaned and rested his head on his arm.

Then the Dragon Slayer slipped into unconsciousness.

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 **Here's chapter four!**

 **I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Feel free to review, but no flames plz!**

 **I'll update as soon as I can!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Alright! Here's chapter five!**

 **Thanks for the reviews from**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-Abby**

 **-Writing bunny**

 **-ImWritingPeper**

 **-Aj neko**

 **Feel free to review, but no flames plz- Natsu already has enough.**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima!**

 **...FT...**

"Are you ok?"

Natsu opened his eyes to see the small bluenette staring down at him. He could only assume that he was in the infirmary.

"Wendy?" He asked, his voice scratchy- his throat felt as dry as a scorpion's nest.

The young Dragon Slayer smiled, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Confused, what happened?"

"Your head hit a rock and you were knocked out." Wendy said and stood up, giving him room, "The next match has already started."

"Man they don't wait very long." Natsu mumbled and sat up gingerly touching the sore spot on the back of his head, "Who's in it?"

"Lucy-san." Wendy said, "Although I feel sorry for her."

Natsu looked up from putting on his shoes, "Why?"

...FT...

Lucy shivered, "Of all the places-" she said and looked around at the snow building around her, "-Why'd it have to be in a blizzard?"

She felt like she was back on Mount Hakobe. Except without a heat source known as Natsu Dragneel.

She looked up at the sky, they had twenty-five minutes left.

A timer had been set because Natsu's match had lasted too long.

Forty minutes, whoever was still standing by the end of that time- one point each.

Lucy looked at the faces in the sky and could see the faces of Blue Pegasus Hibiki and Lamia Scale Toby had already been crossed out. Along with Naked Mummy's Caliz.

Lucy frowned as Sally Tempus was crossed off. She was Raven Tail's replacement for Flare, so how strong was she?

Lucy frowned, she hadn't seen her fight.

Made her wonder who Sally had run into, the ones that were left on her side were Sabertooth's Orga and Mermaid Heel's Kagrua. Both were pretty strong.

Lucy sighed.

"Let's Rock-n-Roll!" Somebody yelled followed by a scream.

She heard the sound of an electric guitar. Lucy groaned and turned around.

"Heya! Bae! I recognized your pretty face from the Tower of Heaven!" Vidalus yelled, followed by a guitar solo and a hair flip.

"Yeah- I know you too weirdo." The Celestial Spirit mage said and pulled out her keys. She unclipped one of them, "Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

The pink-haired maid appeared in front of her, "Am I to be punished Princess?"

"No- I need you to bury that guy!"

"As you wish Princess."

She bowed then drilled down into the ground.

After a moment the ground under Vidalus collapsed and he fell, Virgo popping out of the hole in the ground a second later.

"I have finished Princess." Virgo said and bowed once again.

"Way to go!" Lucy cheered.

"Is it time for punishment?"

"Um- no." Lucy sweatdropped.

"Princess- It seems he is still here." Virgo pointed out, just as the long black hair of Vidalus shot out of the hole Virgo had made.

"You thought that you could beat me? You can never beat Rock-N-Roll!"

"Watch me!" Lucy yelled and pulled on another key, "Open! Gate of the Lion! Leo!"

A golden glow arrived then was replaced by a man with lion colored hair wearing a nice black suit and a pair of sunglasses. "Is this man bothering you beautiful?"

"Just beat him will you?" Lucy sighed then pointed, "Loki's gonna help me kick your butt!" Then she pulled out her whip.

"Virgo, Loki- ready?"

"Of course Princess."

"Anything for you beautiful."

Virgo drilled into the ground. Loki and Lucy ran forward- Lucy summoning her whip of Etoile and swung it, wrapping it around Vidalus.

"What in the-"

She pulled him, dragging him to the ground.

"Oh Regulus! Give me strength!" Loki chanted, his fist glowing, "Regulus Impact!" He yelled and landed a solid punch to Vidalus's face. Slamming him to the ground with a huge amount of force.

Then the ground collapsed beneath him and he fell.

Virgo popped up next to Lucy, "He should be falling pretty far Princess."

"Way to go Virgo!"

"Shall I be punished."

"No." Lucy sighed and sweatdropped. She didn't ever punish Virgo.

She looked up at the sky just in time to see Vidalus's face get crossed off.

 _We got him_.

She peeked over- Virgo was gone, "Virgo?"

"Lucy stay close."

The Celestial Mage peeked over at Leo the Lion, he had a serious look on his face.

Then he disappeared, "Loki!"

...FT...

Suddenly Lucy was back in the arena, "Fairy Tail is out!" The announcer yelled.

Lucy looked around- confused. What had happened? She didn't remember "dying".

The only ones that were left in the game were Orga, Kagrua, Iia, and Saborka. She saw no reason why one of the light guilds would attack her- meaning it either had to be Death Cloud or Black Knight, neither she knew anything about.

"Hey Luce!"

Lucy peeked back as Natsu ran up- she smiled, relieved to see that he was alright. He stopped, "You ok?"

Lucy looked back at the cloud, "What happened?"

Natsu shrugged, "No idea, must be one of those Dark Guild's powers."

"Then that's scary."

"We'll be fine." Natsu offered her one of those smiles that she couldn't help but to smile back to, "By the way- Great job with Vidalus!"

He offered he a high five and she took it, not able to help but to smile brighter. "Yeah I guess I've grown stronger!"

...FT...

Gajeel scowled as he walked.

He was in the middle of a desert wasteland- to put it simply without the use of curse words, it was hot.

And the Iron Dragon Slayer was wearing a lot of black.

He scowled even deeper (if that was even possible).

So far none of the terrain Had been friendly for anybody on their side, namely those in the Fairy Tail team.

Salamander- with the sharpest nose out of anyone- was stuck in a place that he could only smell sulfur.

Bunny Girl (Lucy) who had often complained about the cold and wasn't wearing anything to defend herself against it- was stuck in a raging blizzard.

And finally, himself- the **Iron** Dragon Slayer was stuck in the middle of a freaking desert.

"Gajeel-san."

Gajeel peeked back seeing Rogue walk up, how had he missed him?

"How long have you been here?"

"Not very long." Rogue said, "Looks like everybody is starting to show up." He said looking up.

Gajeel peeked and started to see faces start to appear in the sky.

He looked across the desert and was able to see every single person in the round. "Nice and easy, just the way I like it."

His arm turned into an iron club and he held it up, "Let's see if can make it so there are no Dark Guild members left when the timer is up." He said with a wicked grin planted on his face.

Rogue nodded in agreement.

...FT...

Mermaid Heel Beth Vanderwood and Blue Pegasus Jenny Realight were taken down in the first ten minutes (well Jenny in the first five)- but that didn't surprise him, they were weak.

Jura of Lamia Scale was taking care of Gato of Naked Mummy and Timiatu of Black Knight.

Raven Tail Kurohebi was hard to hit, but against Rogue's ability to turn into shadows he was no match and was destroyed in the first few minutes against him.

Gajeel sucked in air, "Iron Dragon's Roar!" He forced out all of the air in his lungs creating a tornado of iron, engulfing Titanro and he was out. Then he turned to Death Head Caucus's Itriamo, "Now it's your turn."

The Dark Guild member had enough time to gulp before an iron club struck him in the face.

...FT...

The Black Steeled Gajeel sat down under the shade that Jura had created.

Rogue peeked over at him, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." Gajeel huffed then scowled over at him, "I'm looking forward to getting out of this oven."

"It is quite impressive." Jura spoke up, feeling the sand. "It's been a long time since I've seen an illusion that seemed so real. Whoever- or whatever- is doing this must be quite powerful."

"Indeed." Rogue agreed.

Gajeel couldn't care less how powerful the creator was- as long as he was out of it's damn creation soon.

Then just as if somebody had heard his wish the timer went off and they were back in the blissful cool air of the arena.

Gajeel stood up and looked up at the scoreboard.

Backenstall- 6

Shantire- 2

Gajeel grinned, those were good numbers.

...FT...

That lunch Gajeel was sitting on an ice chair Gray had made (Gajeel had asked him for it).

Natsu seemed to be fine, the bump to his head not affecting him, or at least he was eating normally (A.K.A eating everything in sight).

"Well it's good to see you're feeling alright Natsu." Wakuba, the smoke wizard said, "You scared the life out of us when you came out of that illusion unconscious."

Macao nodded in agreement as he took another gulp of his drink, "Guess we shouldn't be too worried, you tend to bounce back quick."

Natsu frowned and took another bite. He was the type as Macao had said to bounce back quick, but something was still bugging him.

He found himself thinking back on what Zeref had said.

One of the Dark Guilds wanted him dead. So if it was Raven Tail then why did they try to kill him in an illusion that he couldn't actually die in? Now Natsu was aware to keep an eye out for them.

Gray noticed the Fire Dragon Slayer spacing out, "You alright?"

Natsu peeked over, "I'm fine."

"Well then stop thinking." Gray said and took another drink, looking away, "You make it look painful."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Natsu yelled, standing up.

"You heard what I said Flamebrain!" Gray yelled back and also stood up- slamming his forehead into Natsu's. However, they both must've had thick skulls- because neither mage flinched in pain.

"I don't need your opinion Frostbite!"

"Dragon's Breath!"

"Ice Princess!"

And naturally- the whole guild was drawn into a fist fight.

Lucy, Wendy, along with the three Exceeds, Happy, Carla, and Pantherlily had found a nice hidey spot under one of the counters.

Pantherlily sighed, "Do they really have to do this here?"

"Well this is Fairy Tail." Carla stated and shrugged, "At least we know that everything is alright."

"Aye! Fairy Tail is back to normal!" Happy exclaimed.

"You need learn to fight like a real man!" They hard Elfman yell.

"Stay out of our way!" Gray and Natsu screamed in unison then they turned and punched Elfman- sending him flying.

Lucy and the others winced as they witnessed Elfman crash into the wall across the room where Gray and Natsu were standing.

...FT...

The man chuckled, "He is quite the hyper one." He said and stood up, looking back at the blonde man in the white robes.

The robed man nodded in agreement, "The boy does have his father's personality."

The first man put away his scope and looked forward, "It doesn't seem like he is aware of who he is yet. Although Zeref has approached him."

"Yes- but it hasn't been the first time." The robed man said, "It doesn't seem like the prophecy is playing out yet. We still have time." He stared sadly at the inn that the Fairy Tail guild was in, "Forgive me Isida, but I shall try to make things right."

...FT...

The water splashed up onto the shore. Gray frowned, Natsu was right- this place did feel so real.

Gray peeked back, "How long are you going to sit there?" He asked Sabertooth's Rufus Lore.

Not really the person he'd imagine teaming up with- but at least he was on his side.

"If memory serves me correctly Nullpudding is the type of person who would come to us." Rufus stood up.

Gray sighed and peeked up, Death Cloud's Dallas was out- along with Naked Mummy's Marun and Blue Pegasus Eve Tearm.

"We should keep you close to the water; it will work well with your Ice Make magic."

Gray nodded, "Which means Lyon is probably near the water as well."

Rufus nodded, "Now the only one we have to look out for on our side is Mermaid Heel's Millianna."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Said a third voice, Gray and Rufus looked back- seeing Raven Tail's Nullpudding standing behind them, "'Cause I'm gonna kill you two first."

...FT...

Lyon walked along the water's edge with Millianna playing in the warm sand beside him.

"Nyah! It's so warm! I feel like I could just take a nap!"

That wouldn't be the best idea." Lyon said.

"I know," Millianna whined.

Lyon peeked up at the sky, _Gray is still in._

That didn't really surprise him, "We should keep nearby the water." He said.

"Aww- but cats don't like the water." Millianna said and eyed the water as if it were going to jump out at her.

"Well look who I found!" They turned around and saw Kizaiko of Death Head Caucus standing behind them, "A kitty-cat and a snowman!"

Lyon irked at the term "snowman." He got into a battle position, "Ready Millianna?"

"Ready! Nyah!"

...FT...

Nullpudding crashed into Gray, throwing him back, "Agh!" Gray cried out then suddenly disappeared.

"Got him." Nullpudding peeked up, and saw Gray's face in the sky- still **not** crossed off.

"Ice Make! Lance!"

Nullpudding was stuck from behind, he peeked back and saw Gray standing behind him. Then suddenly the Ice Mage disappeared once again.

"That was a memory of where the Ice Mage was a moment ago." Rufus said- suddenly appearing behind Nullpudding and kicking him forward.

Then Gray appeared in his blind spot again, "Ice Make! Hammer!"

The giant hammer fell on top of Nullpudding and the two of them vanished again.

"Dammit!" Nullpudding yelled in frustration. Then was kicked back once again by Rufus.

...FT...

"Ice Make! Eagle! Lyon yelled and ice eagles flew at the Dark Mage hitting him all over his body.

"Dammit, it's a new suit!" Kizaiko wailed.

"Kitten Ribbon!" Millianna yelled and the odd string wrapped around Kizaiko.

"What is this stuff!" Kizaiko yelled and struggled- but he couldn't get out, "What the hell?"

"Now you can't use you magic!" Millianna cheered happily, "Nyah!"

"What!" Kizaiko yelled, "That's not fair at all!" He tried to struggle some more, but it was no use.

"It is fair." Lyon said as he appeared in front of him, "It's her power and she is a part of this match-"

...FT...

Suddenly Gray appeared in front of Nullpudding in mid-air with a serious look in his eyes, _this is the real one!_

He knew that- but he still had no time to react as Gray slammed the side of his fist into his palm.

...FT...

"I'm also in this match!" Lyon yelled, "And this is my power!" He slammed the side of his fist into the side of his palm.

...FT...

Gray moved in faster, "Ice make-"

...FT...

"Ice Make-"

...FT...

"Cannon!"

"Snow Dragon!"

Both enemies were hit at the same exact time, crashing into each other.

Both faces were crossed out in the sky.

Lyon blinked, "How long have you been there?"

"That's what I was wondering!" Gray shouted, even though he was only ten or so feet away from him.

Suddenly everything grew dark.

"What the-"

"Time to die-" Said the voice of the Black Knight Mourn.

 _Shit!_

A bad gut feeling hit the light mages and suddenly they heard a beeping noise and they were back in the arena with the announcer's voice.

"That was really close! But the timer went off, giving Lord Backenstall four points and Lord Shantire one point!"

...FT...

The final group was called up and were sent on their way- this time the landscape being a lush forest.

Raven Tail's Orba crashed into the ground and disappeared. Erza walked forward and re quipped back into her normal Heart Kreuz armor.

She peeked up at the sky seeing Naked Mummy's Zato and Raven Tail's Orba were crossed off.

Then she watched as Arana Web of Mermaid Heel was crossed off. Erza frowned and suddenly Ren Akatsuki of Blue Pegasus was crossed off a mere second after.

Erza frowned, "They must of been close to each other."

Then suddenly her Heart Kreuz armor was destroyed. Erza switched into her Japanese Feudal "armor" it wasn't actually armor, just flaming kimono pants with gauze wrapped around her breasts for a top.

Death Head Caucus Ikaruga scowled, recognizing the form, "I won't lose to you this time."

Erza held up her sword, "You don't have a choice."

...FT...

Sherria Blendy sighed,she had been been hoping for more strong people in her group. Then she could hide and let them do the work.

Erza and Minerva were strong, but she was hoping for a few more.

But Erza was super strong, so who knows?

Suddenly the worst feeling came over the Sky God Slayer. She looked up and saw the Black Knight Kirum Kortorzi looming over her.

"Foolish little one."

Then everything turned black and the worst feeling- well got worse- she couldn't feel her magic.

The last thing she heard from the Dark Mage was, "You are not the one I want to kill." Then she was back in the arena.

"Lamia Scale is out!" The announcer yelled.

Sherria blinked, _they want to kill somebody?_

She had to tell someone.

...FT...

Ikaruga swung her sword, leaving a cut on Erza's arm and Erza quickly retaliated- leaving a cut on Ikarua's side

"Agh!"

Ikaruga spun around to attack and suddenly something hit her hand and her sword disappeared.

"Erza now!" Minerva yelled and Erza attacked, leaving a cut down Ikaruga. After a second she disappeared and Erza watched as Ikaruga's face was crossed out in the sky.

"Looks like you lost." Erza said.

"That looked like fun!"

Both Erza and Minerva had spun around, seeing the young Death Cloud Kirisa.

The young girl giggled as the two got into battle position, "No point now- time's up."

And with that the timer went off and they were back in the arena.

"That was incredible!" The announcer shouted, "Two for two! Leaving the final points for the day to be at Lord Backenstall twelve points! Lord Shantire five points! Can Lord Shantire catch up? Or will Lord Backenstall keep leaving him in the dust?"

The crowd was cheering but Erza was focused on the little girl.

 _She hadn't sensed her at all- how?_

...FT...

That night all those in Backenstall's team ate together, it was odd having so many different guilds in one space- but they partied just the same.

Gajeel whined that the fight had been too easy, Erza had beaten up some poor soul because he made her drop her precious strawberry cake. Sting and Natsu competed in a food eating contest- both of them gaining at least fifty pounds.

Through all the chaos Natsu noticed Sherria sitting in the corner- oddly quiet.

He walked up and sat next to her, "You alright?"

She looked up, she had seen how hard Natsu fought when somebody's life was in danger. Telling her that she could trust him to handle it.

"It's something that Kortorzi said."

Natsu frowned, thinking back- Kortorzi was the Black Knight right? "What did he say?"

"He said that I wasn't the one that he wanted to kill." Sherria said- surprising Natsu.

"Black Knight said that?" Natsu asked.

Sherria nodded.

Natsu smiled and gently messed up her hair, "Don't worry, I won't let those bastards hurt anybody!"

Sherria smiled in return- she knew that the Dragon Slayer would say that. So she felt instantly better.

Even if he had hesitated for a moment.

...FT...

Each guild had returned to their inn and practically passed out where they were standing.

Makarov paced around- counting, everybody was counted for.

The Fairy Tail Master peeked over at Natsu, who was passed out in the corner, with Happy next to him. He looked around and was able to see the others who were in the games.

Lucy had fallen asleep next to Levy- a book shared between the two of them.

Erza sat up in a chair not too far away from Natsu- asleep.

Gajeel had passed out on a bench- the position he was in could not have been comfortable.

Gray had found a spot on the floor with Juvia not that far away.

The Master had wondered for a split second if Gray had known that the Rain Woman was so close to him.

"You're being paranoid again."

Makarov peeked over- noticing the Lightning Dragon Slayer, Laxus was awake.

"I am not."

"Yes you are. You pace around a lot when something is up, plus you have that look in your eyes."

"What look?"

"You _don't mess with me or I'll smash you into a million pieces_ look." Laxus stood up, "So what's up?"

Makarov frowned and looked away- peeking over at the sleeping Natsu, "Keep an eye out on the Dark Guilds." He said.

"What am I looking for?"

He peeked over, "You'll know when you see it. I don't want to tell you what to look for because I'm not a hundred percent certain of what to look for." The Master said and walked away.

Laxus scowled and looked over to Natsu- who was still sound asleep, "Now what trouble did you get yourself into?"

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Well that was the longest chapter so far.**

 **When I was typing this a creepy lullaby came on- it was really weird. And kinda made typing this hard- I wasn't really aiming for this part to be creepy...**

 **Anyway, I'll make sure to update soon!**

 **Feel free to review! But no flames plz!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Finally!**

 **Sorry about the long wait- it was the dreaded finals time, and for my glorious week long break I was in an area with no wifi. But I'm back!**

 **Thanks for the reviews from**

 **-Enderheart5911**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-Johnny Spectre**

 **-Writing bunny**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-BlueFlaw**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing and for being so patient!**

 **Here we go chapter six is up! And it's the longest one yet! To make up for the wait.**

 **Feel free to review but no flames!**

 **They won't work anyway because Natsu will just eat the fire!**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima**

 **...FT...**

The sun came up and soon the next round would begin, team Fairy Tail already stood in the arena.

Natsu peeked over at Lucy, "Yo Luce, you alright?"

"Yeah, just a little tired."

Natsu grinned, "You'll do fine!"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah!" She looked around as the other teams started to arrive, "I wonder what the second round will be?"

"Better fighting, hopefully." Gajeel growled.

"Yes your group was far too easy."

Team Fairy Tail spun around and stared in shock at the Black Knight Kortorzi standing over Natsu- glaring down at him. Natsu held his ground- glaring at him back, daring him to make a move. "This is where things start to get serious." He peeked around at the other Fairy Tail mages then glared down at Natsu one more time before walking over to his own team.

Natsu watched the man and shivered, suddenly getting the feeling that he was being watched.

"You alright?" Gray asked, seeing that something was bothering the Fire Dragon Slayer. Natsu hesitated then nodded. "Bull shit, what's up? That man giving you a bad feeling?"

"I feel like someone's watching me."

"You're in an arena Natsu, thousands of people are watching you." Gray said, but looked around anyway- it wasn't common to see the Fire Mage look so nervous, and it bugged him as well.

Then he noticed somebody that stood out. A man in a white robes, his hood was up- but he could tell that he was staring directly at Natsu. "Guy in white robes at ten o'clock."

Natsu peeked over, "I see him."

Erza had also heard Gray and peeked over, he was definitely staring at Natsu.

But she didn't per-say get a bad feeling off of him.

"Alright! Are you ready!" The announcer yelled and the crowd cheered, "Round two will begin!"

The arena shook from the roar of the crowd, "That's impressive." Gajeel muttered.

Natsu peeked up at the robed man, he was still watching him. The person gave nod a slight nod- Natsu frowned, what did that mean?

"Erza Scarlet! Hibiki Lates! Jura! Orga Nanagear! And Kagrua Mikazuchi from Lord Backenstall's team!"

Each member stepped forward.

"Kurohebi! Marun! Pantos! Itriamo! Timiatu from Lord Shantire's team!"

All of them stepped forward as their names were called.

Once they were in normal hearing range the announcer spoke, "This round will be about teamwork!" He yelled- making them regret stepping close to him.

The announcer moved out of the center and a blue circle appeared around those in the match, stopping ten feet away from the wall all the way around. "The time limit is thirty minutes, whichever team can knock out the most of the other team out of the circle wins one point!"

Erza nodded, simple enough.

Lucy sweat dropped, "A pushing match?"

"At least it's easy to follow." Natsu commented, the others silently agreeing- knowing full well that Natsu wouldn't understand a more complicated set of rules.

Natsu peeked up and was surprised to find that the robed man was gone.

Gray also noticed that he was gone and looked around, but the man was nowhere in sight.

This bugged Gray-

 _Where did he go?_

...FT...

Everybody took their stances inside the circle, Erza re-quipping into her Heavens Wheel armor.

Jura stood calmly, Orga didn't seem to be worried either. Kagrua held out her still sheathed sword.

Hibiki sweat dropped, he seemed to be the only not very powerful fighting mage here.

The bell went off and the match began.

"Heavens Wheel Circle Sword!" Erza was the first to move- the swords flew out in multiple directions and struck several Dark Guild members.

Jura moved his hand and a column of rock bended over like elastic and slapped Marun out of the circle- causing the crowd to wince, get spanked by one rock just to get thrown into another- one down.

Kurohebi ran up and kicked Hibiki so hard he flew well out of the circle and crashed into the wall.

Unfortunately for Kurohebi he got way too close to the almighty Erza and was hit with her sword- throwing him immediately out of the circle.

Kagrua focused on Itriamo and Jura chased Timiatu around with a bendy and windy rock.

Erza requipped into her flight armor and ran up to Timiatu with incredible speed, requipping a simple sword into her hand and swung. He jumped back- just in time to get hit with the rock column Jura had been chasing after him with, and he was out of the circle.

The Erza heard Itriamo cry out as Kagrua hit him out of the circle.

Then everybody turned to Death Cloud Pantos.

Five minutes were left on the clock.

Erza and Kagrua quickly moved to either side of Pantos and tried to strike him but he was far too quick and moved out of the way just in time.

This surprised Erza she was in her flight armor- her fastest armor, yet he was easily able to dodge her attack.

Orga came running in with lightning speed and punched but Pantos moved out of the way yet again.

Erza could not believe her eyes- this guy had to be as fast as racer, if not faster.

Suddenly he appeared in front of Kagrua and kicked her back, but she didn't move far. _He's not very strong..._

Pantos turned to Erza and Erza requipped as fast as she could into her ultimate defense, her Adamantine Armor. Pantos hit the ultimate defense and nothing happened.

Pantos hesitated for long enough to get hit by Orga.

He flew and crashed into the ground only inches away from the edge of the circle. Jura and Kagrua moved in for the final attack when the timer went off- signaling the end of the match.

"Well that was close!" The announcer shouted, "I was on the edge of my seat- what about you?" He shouted and the crowd went nuts.

Erza requipped back into her normal clothes and stood up.

...FT...

Lucy sighed as she stepped back to back with Rufus Lore. "Why'd it have to be me?"

Sherria, Jenny, and Beth had been knocked out in the first fifteen minutes- taking Naked Mummy's Zato out with them (more like Sherria took him out). Leaving the two of them surrounded by four Dark Guild members.

"This certainly isn't good." Rufus admitted.

Nullpudding started to move in.

"Open! Gate of the Bull! Taurus!" Lucy yelled and held out her key.

The giant cow appeared out of the light, "What can I do for you miss Looosy!" He bellowed.

"Beat that guy!"

"You won't touch Miss Lucy's body!" He bellowed once again and swung his axe- knocking him back. Then he swung again and slammed Mourn with such force he was knocked out of the circle and into the wall.

Suddenly Taurus disappeared and Korogormi stood in his place.

Then Ikaruga attacked and both Lucy and Rufus vanished, appearing in a safe spot away from them.

"Your Memory Magic is quite interesting." Ikaruga commented.

Rufus scowled, he had the memory of Nullpudding from the Grand Magic Games. He also had memory of hearing of Ikaruga.

However he had no memory of Dallas Korogormi or of the Dark Guild Death Cloud- not even the Magic Council had any record of them, which bothered him.

Lucy pulled on another key and was about to shout before the timer went off.

 _Already?_

...FT...

Lucy walked up, two times in a row she wasn't able to get a single point.

Natsu ran up, "You okay?"

"Yeah." She couldn't help but to give a small smile.

Natsu gave her his natural grin, "That was great Luce!"

"I wasn't able to get a single point."

"Don't worry Luce-" Natsu said and smiled, "That just leaves more for later."

Again Lucy could help but to smile, "Thanks Natsu!"

Natsu smiled again and nodded.

Lucy looked around, realizing that one was missing, "Where's Gray?"

Natsu shrugged, "Ice Princess said that he wanted to check something out. He said that he'll be back in a second."

...FT...

Kirum Kortorzi walked down the hallway silently, after a moment he stopped- but didn't look back. "How long are you planning on following me Gray Fullbuster?"

Gray walked around the corner with his hands in his pockets- not appearing to be surprised about the fact that the man had noticed him, "Until you tell me what the hell you want with Natsu."

Kortorzi smirked, "The Salamander huh?"

Gray scowled, "Yes him, what are you after?"

There was a moment of silence between the two mages- well besides the cheering of the crowd outside. The Kortorzi turned back to face Gray with a sneer on his face, "Beat me in the next match and I might just tell you."

He turned and walked away, waving, "See you in the arena Gray Fullbuster." Then Kortorzi disappeared.

Gray scowled even deeper, "You bet I will."

...FT...

"-And Black Knight Kirum Kortorzi!" The announcer finished up.

Lucy looked around worried. She had seen no sign of Gray and his name had been called for the match.

Natsu looked over and smiled, "Don't worry he's here."

Natsu must've caught his scent- because as if on cue Gray walked into the arena.

"And let the third match of the day begin!" The announcer yelled as soon as Gray stepped up.

They all stood in the circle as it started. Gray peeked over at Minerva, "Do you guys think you can and take on the others? I have business to settle with Black Knight."

Risley nodded, "Leave it to us!"

"Men!" Ichiya replied.

"I'm a girl you troll!" Risley snapped.

"I can take them all down with my paralyzing jellyfish claws!" Toby yelled.

Minerva looked at Gray for a moment, studying the look in his eyes then she nodded, "Very well- we shall take the others."

Then the clock began, as did the match.

...FT...

Makarov sighed, he had been aware that that Gray had noticed that something was up.

They knew that there was a threat, but they weren't a hundred percent certain from which Dark Guild.

Black Knight seemed rather suspicious, but he couldn't ignore the fact that Ivan from Raven Tail seemed to be targeting Natsu as well.

He frowned- _be careful brats._

...FT...

"You owe me some answers!" Gray yelled and attacked, "Ice Make Lance!"

Kortorzi easily knocked the spell aside, "Then you will have to fight for it."

Gray winced as Kortorzi's chain shot out and wrapped around his arm- cutting his skin. Then Kortorzi waved his hand, "Flame missiles!"

Flame bullets with a purplish shade shot at Gray who dodged as best he could but was hit in the chest with one of the bullets.

Gray gasped and stumbled back, then checked himself for any injuries, and was surprised not to find any.

"No need to freak out Gray Fullbuster." Kortorzi said as he walked forward, "You are not my target so my attacks won't kill you."

Gray tensed.

He heard Ichiya get kicked out of the circle with his, " _Men!_ " call. With Risley kicking out Caliz a moment later.

"I'm a girl!"

Toby- who had been kicked out in the first five minutes- sat whimpering against the wall.

Sally Tempus had been taken out by Minerva, who was now working on Vidalus and Titanro.

Risley started to fight Titanro, that way Minerva could finish off Vidalus.

Gray stood up from his crouched position quietly. "He may be a pain in the ass, we may fight a lot-"

Kortorzi stared in interest.

"-But he is a member of my Nakama! If you touch a hair on his head I'll kill you!" Gray roared.

Gray ran forward, his power tripling. "Ice Make-"

Kortorzi hesitated just for a moment, but it was just long enough to let Gray in for his attack.

The Demon Slayer tattoo appeared on his left arm, "-Zero Sword!"

The special Demon Slayer ice forged into a sword and he struck him with it.

Ice covered all of Kortorzi's midsection and he was down.

Then the timer went off.

Gray took the time to look around, Vidalus had been kicked out- leaving only Titanro, even though it looked like he was seconds from getting thrown out.

Kortorzi was still in the circle- but he was satisfied.

Gray turned and glared down at the Black Knight on the ground, "This is the only warning you'll get- remember it well."

Then Gray left- ignoring the cheering crowd and the announcer.

...FT...

 _What coincidence-_ Gray scowled _only the fight happened to be recorded, not the audio._ Leaving Gray with no way of knowing if Natsu knew about the threat. It was lunch and Gray sat silently- thinking.

Black Knight wanted Natsu dead- he peeked up at the Dragon Slayer, who was dancing on the table like an idiot (well he was one so it wasn't hard.) seemingly naive of the danger.

 _Why?_

He peeked over at Gajeel, who happened to be sitting by, "How much do you know about Black Knight?"

There was a rumor in the guild that the Master had used Gajeel at some point to spy on Raven Tail.

Not that anybody could blame him- Gajeel did look like he should be in a Dark Guild.

Gajeel shook his head, "Nothing about them or Death Cloud." He spoke looking away like he wasn't trying to draw attention to them. Although he did steal a little peek at the frustrated Ice Mage, "So why are you interested in them?"

Gray kept his voice low- but luckily Natsu was more preoccupied with dancing with Happy and making a complete fool of himself, "Natsu's in danger."

Gajeel scowled, "I figured, those guys have been keeping a close eye on Salamander. But it's not just them-"

Gray peeked over.

"There's a robed guy that shows up in the crowd once in a while, but each time he's watching Salamander. Actually this entire time I feel like we're being watched, even now." Gajeel said, "I don't like any of this."

Gray nodded, fully agreeing with the Iron Dragon Slayer.

...FT...

"From Lord Backenstall! Fairy Tail Natsu Dragneel!"

Natsu grinned, "I'm up."

"Go get them!" Happy cheered from up with the rest of the guild.

"Lamia Scale! Lyon Vastia! Mermaid Heel- Millianna! Sabertooth- Rogue Cheney! And from Blue Pegasus! Ren Akatsuki!" The announcer yelled.

The crowd cheered and the Announcer called out the Dark Guild names.

"From Lord Shantire! Raven Tail! Ivan Dreyar!"

Natsu paused, _again?_

Gajeel peeked over to Gray and growled, "Now I really don't like this."

"Naked Mummy- Zato! Death Cloud- Iia Muiani! Death Head Caucus- Kizaiko! And Black Knight Saborka!"

The crowd cheered and everybody that was called walked forward.

You will have thirty minutes to knock as many of the other team as you can outside the circle." He appeared in the announcer's podium, "Let the match begin!"

...FT...

The circle went up and Death Head Caucus's Kizaiko sneered, "Two Dragon Slayers and a girl with cat like scenes, well today is not your day."

"Bring it!" Natsu challenged- his fists engulfing in flames.

"Sound 80000 hertz!" Kizaiko yelled and a pulse went out followed by a sound that only a few could hear.

"Agh!" Wendy cried out as the splitting noise hit her ears. She covered her ears and fell to her knees, along with Carla, Pantherlily, and Happy- who were trying to cover their ears to block out the dreadful sound.

Gajeel was on his knees trying to block out the noise. Startling Gray, Erza, and Lucy who didn't hear a thing. Even Laxus grimsped and covered his ears.

Sting yelled and collapsed as the sound hit.

"Ow!" Lector yelled.

"Fro thinks so too!" Froche complained and tried to cover his ears.

Toby whimpered and sat down, trying to find his ears so he could cover them.

Rouge collapsed to his knees trying to block out the noise. _What is this?_

"Kyah!" Millianna yelled and sat on the ground desperately trying to block out the sound.

Natsu stood, clutching over his ears. He was gritting his teeth to keep from crying out.

"What is this?" The announcer yelled, "For some unknown reason the Majority of team Backenstall is down as are many of the audience members and those not in this current match!"

Natsu didn't even notice a cry escaped his lips as his knees hit the ground.

But the others did, immediately drawing all the attention to him.

Natsu felt someone shake his shoulder, and figured that someone was yelling at him. However, he couldn't hear them- the only sound he could hear was the painful sound.

...FT...

Lyon shook Natsu's shoulder, "Dammit Natsu, snap out of it!" He yelled- but got no response.

He looked over at Rogue (who Ren was trying to get his attention) and Millianna. Then he looked at the Dragon Slayers and Exceeds in the crowd. They seemed to be the only ones affected.

 _Wait._

He looked back at Natsu.

 _Dragon Slayers, Exceeds, and Millianna and Toby-_

He turned to Ren, "Don't even try, we need to take out the Death Head Caucus member. He's letting off a sound that only affects those with enhanced hearing."

"Why those?"

"Because they're the only ones that can hear it." Lyon said and turned to Kizaiko, "Ultrasound I'd imagine."

Kizaiko laughed, "You noticed rather quickly, but that will not help you. Three of your people are down."

Lyon scowled and peeked down at Natsu, unsure how long he could stay conscious.

The Fire Dragon Slayer had sharper scenes than most other Dragon Slayers. "Hang on Natsu," He slammed the side of his fist into his palm, "Ice Make! Eagle!"

Ice eagle shot out at Kizaiko but Saborka stepped in the way and was hit instead, _damn it- their entire plan is around Kizaiko-_

Behind him, Lyon could see Natsu collapse, "Damn." Lyon said and looked forward.

...FT...

Happy saw his friend collapse, but he could tell that Natsu was still awake. HIs eyes were squinted shut and he was shivering.

"Natsu!" He yelled, hoping his friend could hear him- but Happy couldn't hear much over the noise, he knew his friend was at even more of a disadvantage.

"Come on Natsu." Lucy urged, watching her friend. He was still in the circle, but he was defenseless.

She watched in horror as Saborka attacked, aiming towards Natsu. "Natsu!" She screamed.

The attack was never able to hit because she was slammed to the side by a shadow, throwing her out of the circle.

Rogue reformed back into his normal self and collapsed, covering his ears once more. "Bad idea." He mumbled as he winced in pain- he used one hand to reach back and shake Natsu, "Natsu-san?"

There was no response from the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"So you can move under my spell?" Kizaiko asked, mildly shocked, "How?"

"My hearing is not as sensitives as Natsu-san's." Rouge said, "Shadow Dragon's Roar!"

A ray of shadows shot out of his mouth and stuck him in the chest, throwing him back. Then Kizaiko was hit by Lyon's snow dragon and was knocked out of the circle- and knocking him unconscious.

The sound disappeared and those with enhanced hearing started to relax.

...FT...

The first thing that Natsu noticed was that the sound was gone. He pushed himself up, just in time to see Zato looming over him.

Natsu reacted as fast as he could, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He punched him with a fiery fist, knocking him out of the circle, and likely out of the arena as well.

"Alright!" Natsu Dragneel is back in the fight!" The announcer shouted and Natsu winced- his ears were still hurting.

Then the worst feeling came to him- he couldn't move. "What the hell?" Lyon cursed- he looked like he was also unable to move.

The others were struggling against their invisible bonds. Natsu himself struggled, then he looked at his arm closely. He could see tiny strings wrapped around his arm, and if he looked close enough he could see those same strings everywhere.

It was like a spider's web, but it wasn't sticky. He heard Ren cry out as Ivan slapped him out of the circle.

"What's this?" The announcer shouted, and Natsu wanted to yell at him to tone it down a bit, "It seems all of Lord Backenstall's team is immobilized!"

Ivan Dreyar looked over at Natsu then walked over towards him.

 _Shit._ Was all that could pass through Natsu's mind before he was struck.

He felt the blow land in his stomach, throwing him back. Then he felt himself crash into the ground. He could tell that he was still in the circle, but pretty close to the edge. He knew Ivan could've hit harder than that- _Damn bastard is still playing with me!_

Ivan stalked towards him and Natsu tensed up, _no way in hell am I going to lose like this!_ Ivan continued to walk closer and Natsu closed his eyes, focusing- he was not going to lose.

...FT...

Lyon watched in amazement as the ground around Natsu began to catch fire. Fire flickered off his skin, then everything seemed to explode.

As he watched the fire burned away what looked like strings. Then he found that he could move and Lyon took full advantage of it, "Ice Make! Ape!"

The ape ran towards Ivan, who was advancing on Natsu with malicious intent.

A bad gut feeling hit Lyon as Ivan approached Natsu taking out what looked like a black pearl.

Lyon made a last minute decision and had the ape grab Natsu, throwing him towards Lyon just as Ivan tossed the pearl.

Natsu slammed into Lyon as everything was ripped to shreds with a loud _crash!_

After a moment Natsu yelled at Lyon, "What the hell was that-" Natsu stopped, catching Lyon staring behind him with a look of shock on his face. Natsu peeked back and stared in shock at the huge crater and the debris thrown everywhere.

"That's what."

The timer went off but the two mages barely even heard it, they were both in shock.

"What an incredible match!" The announcer yelled, "Lord Backenstall's team was on the ropes the whole time but managed to keep ahead, adding one point to Lord Backenstall!"

The crowd cheered as they exited the arena. Natsu walked past Gajeel, "You okay Salamander?" Gajeel asked, "You look a little shaken up."

Natsu peeked over, "Keep an eye out- that wasn't Ivan's magic." He said, keeping his voice low.

"Gotcha."

Gajeel didn't even wait for his name to be called, he was in the last group so he knew that this was his match. He stood tall in the arena and waited for the match to begin- stealing one last peek at Salamander as he walked away.

...FT...

Gajeel and Sting stood back to back. Yuka, Arana, and Eve were already out. Along with Naked Mummy's Bonza.

Gajeel scowled at the owl man as he hooted at him, "You can't beat me!"

"So typical." Sting commented.

"And annoying." Gajeel agreed and turned, his fist formed into the iron club, "I vote we knock him out first."

"I couldn't agree more." Sting said then ran forward using Fukuro's surprise to his advantage, "White Dragon's Roar!"

The ray of light hit Fukuro in the chest- throwing him back, then it was Gajeel's turn, "Iron Dragon's Club!"

The club extended and slammed into the already moving Fukuro and kept pushing him. Stopping at the edge of the circle and letting the remaining force catapult the owl man into the wall ten feet back.

Black Steeled Gajeel sneered, "Don't ever tell me that I can't do something punk."

He got a peek at the clock and saw that there was five seconds remaining on the timer.

It was two for two.

Suddenly he heard a giggle next to him, he looked down and saw the little Death Cloud Kirisa smiling up at him. "That looked like fun!"

Then the timer went off.

Three to two- one point for Shantire.

Gajeel left the arena, grumpy about losing the one point, and about not being able to sense the brat's presence.

She snuck past the sense of a Dragon Slayer-

 _How?_

...FT...

The teams that night went immediately back to the inns that their guilds were staying in.

Natsu laid on his bed away from the party with the door closed, and a throbbing headache.

"Natsu?" Happy whispered- knowing that it hurt his friend to hear much louder. Natsu peeked over at the blue cat, "Are you going to be ok?"

"I'll be fine." The Dragon Slayer answered, "My ears are still ringing from Kizaiko's magic that's all."

"Are you going to be okay to fight tomorrow?" Erza asked as she walked in- followed by Gray, Lucy, and Gajeel.

"I'll be fine." He repeated, he desperately wanted to tell Erza to tone it down- but doing that would probably have her pull him from the next day's match- if not a sword to the neck.

Gajeel plopped down, "Besides, he's only got a one in five chance of fighting tomorrow."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Apparently tomorrow's a special day so they're only going to have one match and then a big parade." Lucy explained.

"Parade for what?"

She shrugged, "No idea."

Natsu laid back, "I'll be okay to fight if my name is called."

"This better not be one of your stubborn moments." Erza said and Natsu jumped- hearing the warning in her tone.

"No mam! I'm fine! Seriously, the ringing is almost gone! I'll be fine!"

Erza nodded, "I'm glad to hear that, now we should all get some rest- it's been a long day."

It took a few minutes but soon the team crashed, turning off the lights. Except for Natsu- who laid on his side staring out the window.

Gray's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Get some sleep Flamebrain- It'll help get rid of the headache."

Natsu peeked over his shoulder at Gray, who was lying with his back to him. Natsu slowly nodded then rolled back over, "Yeah."

...FT...

The robed man stood in the audience section looking down at the arena floor.

Being the only person there at night made him pretty noticeable, but he seemed to pay no heed.

The man frowned as he stared down at the arena floor.

"It's about to begin."

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Chapter six is done!**

 **For those of you that do not know Hertz is the noise frequency. Humans can normally hear 20000Hz a dog whistle is normally at 40000 Hz. I figure that a Dragon's hearing is just as- if not more than a dog's.**

 **Again- sorry about the wait!**

 **Feel free to review! But no flames plz!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Alright Chapter Seven is up!**

 **There's a hint of Nalu so for those of you who ship Nalu here you go! For those of you who don't- just keep in mind Natsu would do this for anybody in his guild. If that doesn't appease you, oh well.**

 **Thanks for the reviews from**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Dark Dang**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-Writing Bunny**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-BigChillFreak**

 **I found it slightly amusing that the one who go most heated on the reviews was the one with "chill" in the name... XD I'm glad you liked the fight!**

 **Feel free to review- but no flames! (even if you are "all fired up!" Keep in mind when Natsu normally says that half a town ends up getting destroyed... So let's not. I don't have enough money for a new lap top- or a new town.)**

 **Anyway- enjoy!**

 **As always- I do not own Fairy Tail, all ownership goes to Hiro Mashima.**

 **...FT...**

Natsu frowned, seeing the scene before him. It was a giant bubble of water floating in the air.

And Lucy had been called forward from Fairy Tail- this was way too familiar for Natsu's comfort.

The others from Lord Backenstall's side that were called forward were Minerva, Jenny, Sherria, and Arana.

From Lord Shantire's side was Sally Tempus, Caliz, Iia Muiani, Kirisa, and Sabrorka. Making the only male Caliz.

Since they were in the water they were all in swimsuits.

The water was thicker than normal water, was the first thing Lucy noticed when she hopped in. The second being that she could breathe in this so called "water."

Once everybody was in the water and was settled the announcer shouted as loud as he could, "And let the match begin!" Followed by the loud cheering of the crowd.

Lucy tugged at her keys, _here I go!_

Natsu watched as the girls fought, Caliz had been taken out instantly- making Natsu smirk, remembering Quatro Cerberus being taken out the same way during the Grand Magic Games.

Natsu frowned, this was almost too much like the Grand Magic Games. That uncomfortable feeling made Natsu watch the fight even closer.

Arana Web had been able to knock Kirisa out of the bubble, surprising Natsu. That had been the first time kid had been hit in the games.

He watched Kirasa for a second as she pulled herself off the ground and sat against the wall- detecting no danger Natsu continued to watch the fight.

Sabrorka took full advantage of Arana's distraction and struck her out of bounds- making those watching wince as the Mermaid crashed into the ground.

Then he spotted Jenny Realight get pushed out by Raven Tail, didn't really surprise him- she had been far too focused on flirting with some guys in the crowd.

"Be ready Natsu Dragneel."

Natsu jumped and looked around, trying to find the voice that had been speaking to him- but he couldn't find it. He frowned- the voice sounded like it was right behind him. He sniffed the air but didn't catch any new scents near him.

Gray peeked over, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Natsu said after a moment's hesitation. He sighed and looked back to the fight.

Gray frowned- watching the Dragon Slayer for a moment, something was up.

Natsu watched as Lucy and Sherria fought Sally Tempus. Then the voice spoke up again-

"It is about to begin."

This time Natsu didn't even bother to look, he knew the person was gone. He leaned on the wall- focusing on the fight in the arena with a frown.

 _What was going to begin?_

He kept silent but frowned, _that voice was familiar._

...FT...

The white-robed man watched the black-hooded man walk up to him, "Please understand, it's not time yet. You'll be able to speak face-to-face with him soon. Just not now."

"I know." The black-hooded man looked up at him with a smile that would normally make anybody around him smile- but at the time showed a hint of pain. "I have no idea what I would say anyways." Then he turned away, "I should be going." He said then disappeared.

The white robed man gave a sad smile, "Forgive me Koroku, but his friends have noticed me. I needed someone who specializes in being unseen to deliver my message. You're the best man for the job."

Then he turned around and left, disappearing into the crowd of people.

...FT...

"Sky Gods Roar!" Sherria yelled and blew out a torrent of air, hitting Sabrorka directly in the chest, pushing her towards the edge.

"Gate of the Ram! Aries!" Lucy yelled as she tugged on her key.

"What can I do for you miss?" Asked the timid Celestial Spirit as she appeared from the gate.

"We need her knocked out of here!"

"I'll do what I can mam'n." Aries said, "Wool Bomb!" Pink fluff slammed into Sabrorka, knocking her out of the bubble.

"Yes! Way to go!" Lucy cheered.

"I'm sorry." Aries said timidly. "Was that enough mam?"

"Yeah, that was perfect!"

"I'm sorry."  
Suddenly Aries disappeared, Lucy blinked- confused. "Aries?" Then she dodged an attack from Sally Tempus.

Sally turned- knocking a surprised Sherria knocking a surprised Sherria out of the bubble. Then she moved to attack Lucy, only to be knocked aside and out by an almost invisible force.

"Nice." Lucy stated and swam up next to Minerva.

Minerva nodded, "Only one left."

They both turned to Iia Muiani, who hadn't moved once the entire time.

Iia smirked, "Do not be foolish Light Guild. I do not hesitate to kill my enemies- and you are not strong enough to beat me."

Lucy turned with a smirk on her face- by herself she might have trouble, however she had one of the strongest Mages in Sabertooth and someone who managed to give Erza a run for her money next to her. Needless to say she was fairly confident. She held up her fist, "Oh yeah well-"

Lucy was struck from behind by Minerva. "What-" Then she was struck again, being knocked unconscious.

...FT...

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled on the third hit, his gut feeling being unfortunately right. Minerva was hitting Lucy again and again- not leaving any room for Lucy to escape even if she was awake- just like the Grand Magic Games.

"Lucy!"

Before anybody that wanted to could stop the Dragon Slayer, he jumped over the edge to the arena below- Gray right behind him.

Each Mage took off towards the giant bubble as soon as their feet touched the ground, Gray just behind Natsu. "Stop the match!" Gray shouted to the announcer.

"I-I can't" The announcer answered- slightly intimidated by the Ice Mage. "She is within the rules-"

"Gray get me up there!" Natsu yelled.

The announcer tried to argue, "The point will be forfeited to Shantire if you-"

"I don't give a damn!" Natsu yelled, not even noticing that he had startled the announcer as he ran up the stairs that Gray had created. He had to get to Lucy-

Once he was high enough he jumped off the stairs - not even slowing his pace for even a second- and directly into the water, swimming as fast as he could.

He got to Lucy just in time to block another strike. Then he punched Minerva back.

 _Sorry._

He had been expecting fire in that punch, but none came. Making him realize that since the water was weird he wouldn't be able to use his fire like he would in normal water. In order to even light his fist on fire would take a lot of magic power.

He didn't have much time to ponder before grabbing Lucy to dodge another attack. He touched the edge of the bubble- which surprised him, he had expected to fall out but it was solid. He frowned and knocked on the edge again- still solid, he wasn't imagining it.

But the others were able to pass through just fine-

Then an idea popped into his head, he let go of Lucy and reached out his hand. Just like he had guessed, his hand passed right through the barrier.

Then he grabbed Lucy and automatically, his hand was forced back in. He scowled and shook his hand- that kinda hurt!

"So this thing won't let Lucy out." Natsu mumbled, _and it won't let me out with Lucy. No way in hell am I leaving her here though._

Then he had to dodge another attack. Nicely enough, the wall was solid so he could use it to shoot himself to the opposite side- away from Minerva.

He glared up at Iia then looked back at Lucy. He blinked- he thought he spotted something. He quickly checked again and realized he wasn't imagining things. There was a mark on Lucy's leg, an "X".

...FT...

Makarov frowned, _that mark must be why they can't escape._ He knew that, but couldn't remember when Lucy had got that mark.

The point had been given to Lord Shantire- but just like Natsu, he didn't really care. He was much more worried about the safety of his children.

The Master knew that he couldn't do anything, but trust that the Fire Dragon Slayer could think of a way to get the two of them out safely.

"It had begun."

Makarov turned- seeing a black hooded man standing next to him.

Despite the mystery of the man- and the fact that nobody else seemed to have noticed him- The Master didn't get a dangerous feeling off the man. So he kept calm and let the man continue.

"Keep an eye on him. They are beginning to make their move." The man said while calmly looking down at the fight below.

"By him I'm assuming you mean Natsu?" Makarov spoke up. Nobody else seemed to notice the Master speaking- telling him that whatever spell the mysterious man was using he was also in it.

The man peeked over at Makarov with grey eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Alright then- who is 'they'?"

"Everybody." The man said then disappeared in front of his eyes and the Master could tell that everything had returned to normal.

...FT...

Natsu stared at the mark for a moment before he had to dodge another attack from Minerva. He knew what the mark was doing- and what he had to do, but he didn't like it. The Fire Mage gritted his teeth and looked back just in time to dodge another attack.

After dodging the attack he planted his feet on the barrier fire building up around him. "Sorry Luce-" He bit his lower lip then focused all the fire into the palm of his free hand and pressed it on Lucy's leg, on the mark.

Lucy yelped from the mark being burned off her leg- despite being unconscious. "Sorry." Natsu mumbled and frowned when he noticed that it was still bleed heavily. He quickly took off his scarf and used it to bandage the wound to try and stop the bleeding.

He felt someone grab his wrist and before he even realized what he was doing he shouted, "Gray catch her!" and shoved Lucy out of the bubble just before he was thrown.

Natsu crashed into something solid and knew that he had a mark on him when he sat up and saw that he was still in the bubble, "Damn." He checked his wrist and frowned when it wasn't there.

Then Minerva struck his side, throwing him aside and into the barrier again. A searing pain ran through his ribs as he pushed himself up.

Then he had to dodge again, "She's getting faster!" Natsu said and peeked back just in time to watch as Minerva used the wall to catapult herself towards him. She had touched it- not passing through.

 _She's got a mark on her._

...FT...

Macao frowned, "Something's wrong."

"Yeah," Wakuba said, "Minerva attacked Lucy, even though she's on our side."

"Well that too- but that's not what I'm talking about." Macao said, "Natsu normally beats the crap out of anyone who tries to hurt his Nakama." The Fire Mage pointed out, everybody nodded- remember plenty of examples. "Yet he's been dodging Minerva this entire time, it's as if he's trying not to fight her."

"We can only trust that Natsu knows what he is doing." Makarov answered.

Laxus looked over at the Master, "You think he's noticed something that we can't see?"

The Master nodded, "Yes- and it most likely has something to do with the Death Cloud in there."

"True." Mira said, thinking out loud. "She hasn't moved once this entire fight." She pointed out.

"Alright- then Natsu must've noticed that! Way to be a man Natsu!" Elfman yelled.

"That has nothing to do with this you big oaf." Evergreen snapped.

Makarov watched Natsu as he dodged another attack, catching the slight wince on the Dragon Slayer's face that nobody else would have noticed if they didn't know what to look for. He was in pain.

That hit had done damage.

"Be careful brat."

...FT...

Natsu dodged another attack and peeked up at Iia, thinking about the last round he was in. He wasn't able to move- those strings. He dodged another attack then stole another glance at Iia- she had also been in that fight. Then he was forced to dodge another attack, an idea forming in his mind.

 _I can't even get a chance to try and look for that mark to destroy it- if I do then I'll just get hit again. If I'm not severely injured then she'll at least put that mark back on me._ He growled, getting slightly annoyed with the whole thinking things through stuff. _Fine- if I can't escape this, then I'll just blow this entire goddamn water bubble a part!_

His feet touched the solid wall and he catapulted himself forward, slamming into Minerva. He grabbed her and focused, surrounding the two of them with a sphere of fire.

...FT...

Gray shivered from the huge amount of magic Natsu was forcing out, "Get out of the arena." He said quickly.

They evacuated the fighting ground of the arena just before Natsu let off a huge column of fire that engulfed the whole fighting floor. The audience in the first several rows were forced to move back to avoid the flames as a huge column of fire shot high into the sky- easily able to be seen for miles.

The man with the black hood whistled as he looked towards the top of the column- he had to use his hand to block out the sun to see the top. "Nice." He gave a little chuckle and smiled softly, "He's definitely _her_ son."

Natsu and Minerva crashed into the ground, coughing as the bubble fell around them in the form of rain.

"What happened?" Minerva asked as she pushed herself up- looking around, totally puzzled with what had happened.

"Good- you're back to normal." Natsu stood up and looked over at Iia, "Those strings of yours have the ability to control others actions don't they?" He asked Iia.

Iia smirked and walked away, "Well look at that he's smarter than he looks."

Natsu stepped forward and felt a hand on his shoulder, "Save it for when it's your turn." He heard Gray's voice, "We we're able to teach Sabertooth a lesson- we'll do the same for these bastards."

Natsu scowled then turned to Gray, who was standing behind him, "Where's Lucy?"

"She's with Porlyusica, Wendy, and Sherria getting healed. Although she's not nearly as bad as last time." Gray told the Dragon Slayer, easily able to tell that he was worried. He frowned- noticing the slight hint of pain in his eyes as if he was trying to hide a wound.

He noticed the way the Dragon Slayer was standing and remembered that Natsu had been hit. "You should also go get healed."

Natsu shook his head, "I'm fine. I want them to heal Lucy first."

Gray slowly nodded and looked over to where Death Cloud was- Natsu held a wince as he frowned at the ground-

 _Lucy, Minerva, and a giant water bubble for a fighting arena- it's exactly like last time..._ He gingerly touched his ribs- thinking to himself, _what the hell is going on, was that planned?_

Minerva remained silent, registering what had happened.

...FT...

Lord Backenstall had decided that Laxus would be Lucy's replacement. She had awoken later on that night, but Porlyusica didn't want her fighting for a bit.

Wendy gave Natsu back his scarf, "I was able to get rid of the blood stain." She spoke quietly.

"Thanks."

Natsu walked up and sat next to Lucy's bed, "How's your leg?"

"It's fine." Lucy said, being careful to avoid admitting that it still stung a little- knowing full well that the Fire Mage felt guilty about burning her. "Thank you for saving me in there."

Natsu smiled, "No problem Luce!"

Lucy couldn't help but to smile at that goofy grin, "How's your side? I heard you were hit" She asked quietly.

Luckily for Natsu Porlyusica was busy talking with Makarov, "Oh its fine- just a little bruise. I heal fast, it'll be gone soon."

"That's good to hear." Lucy knew that there was more damage than he was letting on- she could tell by how uncomfortable he looked while he sat, but she didn't push him on the subject.

She looked over at a vase of flowers that Minerva had apparently left for her while she was unconscious. They were a dark purple flower, probably native to the area. "Hey Natsu?" She whispered.

But the Dragon Slayer had heard her nonetheless. "Yeah Luce?"

She looked over at him, "I've got a bad feeling about the guild Death Cloud. Be careful okay?"

Natsu nodded, "Right."

...FT...

Later that night Makarov and Laxus walked into the infirmary, "Told you he was here." Laxus told the old man as he spotted Natsu asleep in the chair next to Lucy's bed.

Laxus stood next to the window, watching the old man. "So are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Makarov sighed and checked to make sure that the two mages were asleep. Then he spoke quietly, "I have a reason to believe that someone may be after Natsu's life."

Laxus frowned, "Do you know who?"

"I have my suspicions, but I cannot say who." He peeked over at Natsu, who was still fast asleep. "You are now in the games- I will need your help."

"Like I can say no? Do the others know about this?"

"Gray and Erza are aware that something is up. Gajeel is also aware that something is wrong." Makarov said. "Gray has already confronted Black Sword."

"So it's them?"

"It may." Makarov looked over at Natsu, "But I am also worried about Death Cloud."

He frowned- his gut telling him that he was not going to like tomorrow.

...FT...

"Welcome to day four!" The announcer yelled as the crowd went to their seats, whispering and pointing. All the Mages stood on the fighting floor staring up the sky.

Glowing in the sky were all the Guild Marks. The way it was written made it looked like the guilds were going to be fighting each other.

Blue Pegasus vs Raven Tail

Sabertooth vs Black Knight

Lamia Scale vs Death Head Caucus

Mermaid Heel vs Naked Mummy

Fairy Tail vs Death Cloud

Natsu frowned as he looked up at the sky, "So are we all fighting?"

"Dunno." Gray said, "But doesn't that seem more of a last round kinda fight, we're only on day four."

"How many rounds are there?" Gajeel asked.

"Ten with a final round- so eleven total." Gray answered.

"Hmm." Gajeel looked up, "That's more than the Grand Magic Games." He said as he took another bite of some metal that he had on him.

Erza stepped up, "I will admit that this is rather odd." she said, "Even if it's a one on one or Guilds fighting each other we will have to be careful. Our opponent is Death Cloud."

"Fine by me." Gray said and Natsu nodded, still looking up at the marks.

"Today will be a one on one battle!" The announcer yelled and the Fairy Tail mages looked at each other.

"No matter who it is make sure you give them a good beating." Gray spoke up and the others nodded, even Laxus.

The announcer continued over them, "Each match takes as long as it needs be until one fighter is down, there will be no time limit and no ties!" The announcer shouted, "Now to reveal who will be participating!"

Then each Guild Mark in the air turned around, showing the picture of each person fighting in that round.

Ichiya vs Ivan Dreyar

Rufus Lore vs Mourn

Jura vs Fukuro

Beth Vanderwood vs Caliz

Natsu Dragneel vs Dallas Korogormi

"Well at least you're not fighting against Ivan again." Gajeel stated.

"Yeah." Natsu agreed, "It would be boring to fight the same guy three times in a row." He said and made a little side note- _plus he was glad to have the chance to thrash a Death Cloud._

All the Mages made their way up to their spots in the stands.

"First will be Ichiya versus Ivan Dreyar!"

"Men!" Ichiya yelled and jumped down from the crowd (nobody knew why he didn't just stay down there in the first time.) instead he made a complete fool out of himself as he face planted into the ground.

"This will be too easy." Ivan said as he approached- and unfortunately most had to agree with him.

"You can do it Sempai!" Blue Pegasus called out- followed by their typical cheer that immediately demoted them several spots on the cool rankings.

Makarov watched Ivan and frowned, knowing full well that his son wouldn't waste any time fighting somebody who he thought was weak.

He was going to try to take Ichiya out with one hit.

Bringing Natsu one fight- one step closer to the fight with Death Cloud, Which the Fairy Tail Master wasn't overly fond of that idea.

"Let the games begin!"

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Well there's chapter Seven, not nearly as long as the last one- but that's okay.**

 **Feel free to review! But No flames plz!**

' **Til next time!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Alright Chapter Eight is up!**

 **Thanks for the review from-**

 **-StardustDragongirl44**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-BigChillFreak**

 **Feel free to review, but no flames!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima**

 **...FT...**

"Maximum Strength Perfume!" Ichiya took a whiff of the scent and his body turned into it's body builder form, looming tall over Ivan.

"There are some things that can't be unseen that should be." Risley said, trying to avoid looking at Ichiya.

Erza looked like she was going to be sick.

Ichiya ran at Ivan with full force- only to be slapped aside by a huge wave of shikigamis. They tied around his ankle and dragged him all over the place- slamming him into the walls and the ground.

Needless to say- the match was over in less than five minutes.

Makarov frowned, watching his son. Ivan seemed to be abiding by the rules, he was brutal- but within the rules. Which was a huge step from before in the Grand Magic Games.

But just by looking at the look on Ivan's face Makarov could tell that Ivan wasn't willingly playing by the rules. Somebody was forcing him to abide, most likely bribing him- or at least Makarov couldn't see anything else that would force his son to do something other than what he wanted to do.

Makarov peeked up at Lord Shantire, it was most likely him. However, somebody that was willing to go low enough to summon five different Dark Guilds didn't seem like the type of man that would be concerned about playing by the rules.

The Master looked away- careful not to draw attention to himself.

One thing he knew was that this was more than a town dispute, he frowned to himself as the crowd cheered- Shantire was after something. Why else would he summon five different Dark Guilds?

And if more of his brats got hurt because of these "games" then Shantire was going to suffer for it.

...FT...

The next match was Rufus Lore versus Mourn- Gray had to admit it was much more interesting of a fight then the one. At least they were both strong enough to take each other on, making it more of a fight then a smack down- making it better to watch.

Until he peeked over and noticed that a certain pink-haired flamebrain was gone. Gray stood up and looked around- not seeing the Fire Mage he asked, "Where's Natsu?"

"He went to the bathroom." Erza answered him, and Gray raised an eyebrow. Laxus gestured to the left, noticing the Ice Mage's concern.

Gray nodded, "I'll be right back." he said, and then walked to the men's restroom- which was in sight of the group.

...FT...

Natsu stood in the bathroom, examining the discoloration of his ribs, and frowned- wincing a little too hard.

 _Definitely broken._

He sighed and winced once more when the sigh pulled on his ribs.

"I thought so."

Natsu jumped and looked back, seeing Gray standing in the doorway. Natsu turned away with an annoyed sigh, "What do you want?"

Gray didn't take his eyes off on Natsu's ribs, "You should get that healed." Gray warned him, "They look painful."

Natsu zipped up his vest, "Nah- it's not as bad as it looks, and besides, Porlyusica is already pretty busy helping Lucy." He looked into the Ice Mage's eyes, "I'll be fine."

"More like you're too damn stubborn to get yourself healed." Gray snapped.

"I have a match today, if I go to Porlyusica she'll just pull me out of the match- which will be a pain in the ass for all of us." Natsu said- but in truth, he really wanted to be the one to get revenge for Lucy on that Death Cloud.

The look on Gray's face told Natsu that the Ice Mage knew what his real reason was- however, he didn't like it one bit. "Oh yeah? And what happens if you go out there and you get even more injured?"

"I'll be fine- it's a one on one fight, I've done tons of those-"

The crowd cheered, signaling the end of the next match.

The two Fairy Tail Mages stood in silence staring at each other- somehow this reminded Natsu of when they were both about to fight over the book of E.N.D- that was before Zeref took it.

They heard an awkward cough and they both looked over to see a town's man standing in the doorway- looking rather intimidated by the two Mages that he recognized from the matches.

Gray turned to Natsu, mumbling, "We'll finish this conversation later."

Then Gray left and the civilian took that as a chance to move past Natsu and to the urinal. After a moment the random civilian looked over at Natsu- who was frowning at the ground. "Some interesting fights lately, haven't there?"

Natsu peeked back and nodded.

Suddenly the room seemed to explode in Dark Magic and Natsu whirled around- seeing a man standing in the doorway, with a black hood covering his features.

Behind Natsu, the townsman gave a small "yeep!" Natsu peeked back- seeing the man hiding behind one of the urinals.

Then he turned back, the man stood in the same spot. He light his hand on fire, growling, "Who the hell are you?" He shouted and got ready for a fight.

Instead the magic energy seemed to tone down to a more comfortable amount. The man held up his hands in a surrendering fashion, "Settle down Natsu, I am not your enemy." The man said and walked up to Natsu.

"How do you know my name?" Natsu demanded, mentally punching himself afterwards- his name had been called several times that last few days, the entire town knew who he was.

The man chuckled softly, not in a threatening way- just as if Natsu had told an old friend a funny joke.

The man stood in front of him, Natsu didn't attack- but he didn't lower his defense either.

The man put his hand on Natsu's shoulder, "You've really grown up- I don't even need to bend over to do this anymore." The man said with a soft chuckle- just like the one from before.

"Who are you?" Natsu scowled- slightly annoyed by the man.

The man shook his head then he pressed his other hand up against Natsu's ribs.

Natsu gasped from the sharp pain and tried to pull back, but the man's hand on his shoulder stayed firm- and the Dragon Slayer was unable to move away.

A sharp pain ran through Natsu's body and he yelped. Then the man let him go, stepping back a little. "It's still bruised but I was able to mend the bone. You'll still be sore- but you should be able to breathe a little easier." The man said.

Natsu carefully poked at his ribs, they were still sore- but he could tell that the breaks were gone. He quickly looked up at the man, "Who are you?" He frowned, "You smell like Zeref- are you related to him or something-"

Suddenly the man laughed and put his hand on top of Natsu's head, messing up his hair, and forcing him to look down.

Natsu scowled, pushing the hand away, and looked up to chew the man out- surprised by that the man was gone.

...FT...

The fight between Jura and Fukuro had been going on for ten minutes when Natsu finally showed up, with a frown on his face.

Gray peeked over and frowned- easily able to tell that something was up. Laxus also got the same feeling, so he peeked in the direction Natsu came from- not seeing anything he turned away- but still kept an eye out.

"Are you alright Natsu?" Erza asked and Natsu nodded- flashing a smile.

"Just imagining the best way to beat that Death Cloud." Natsu said.

"Never thought that you'd think about your fights." Gray said and snickered.

"Only when I want them to be badass." Natsu said.

Gray smirked, "Guess you're still trying." he said- although (he'd never admit it out loud) some of Firebreath's fights had been pretty cool to watch.

"What was that Droopy eyes?"

"Nothing Ash for Brains-" Gray said and now both boys were head-butting each other- as if being that close made them even more intimidating to each other.

"Boys." Erza spoke up- looking up from her precious strawberry cake, "That is enough." She said and glared at the two of them.

"Yes mam!" The boys yelled in unison and hugged each other for dear life- causing the rest of the light mages to laugh.

Natsu looked down at the fight, frowning as he saw the owl man.

Fukuro flew at Jura (nobody was too sure how he managed to fix that jetpack so fast after each fight). Jura, with incredible speed created a rock wall in front of him, and Fukuro slammed directly into it- making everybody flinch.

Then the rock bent over on itself and slammed Fukuro into the nearby wall- ending the fight. Natsu smirked- pleased to see Fukuro get his butt kicked, but at the same time he was glad that he didn't have to see a Fukuro with a Jura face and with Jura's powers.

His face turned a little green at the thought.

The crowd went wild and the announcer shouted, "And the winner of the match is Lamia Scale Jura!" And the crowd went even more wild- if that was even possible.

...FT...

Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Mermaid Heel partied during the lunch break. They made sure to keep the alcohol away from Beth Vanderwood and Natsu Dragneel, since they had a match coming up. However, it was a typical Fairy Tail party.

Gray and Natsu tried to beat the crap out of each other, only to get the crap beat out of them both by the mighty Erza. Erza held back a little on Natsu- due to the match coming up- but also due to something nagging deep inside her.

However, she still managed to break up the fight.

Before they knew it the next match was called and Beth ran off. Gray looked over at the doorway then peeked over at Natsu, "Here we go." Gray whispered- mainly to himself, since he knew that the Fire Mage was far too dimwitted to really care about how dangerous that this could be getting.

Natsu stood up with a smile on his face and stretched. Then he slammed his fist into his palm, "I'm all fired up!"

It was not that long before Mermaid Heel was squaring up against Naked Mummy. And lost. This surprised the rest of the Light Guilds- this would be the first time that Naked Mummy had scored a point in these games. Making them all wonder exactly what happened- but decided against bothering the already clearly depressed Beth Vanderwood. Giving the Mermaid Heel the space she needed.

Gray scowled then peeked over at Natsu, "You're up." He said- watching the Fire Mage's face for any change- mainly to see if he was nervous or not-

Natsu nodded- his face turning more serious. "Yup."

...FT...

Natsu stood in the arena glaring down Death Cloud's Dallas Korogormi.

He vaguely heard the announcer speak, "There will be no time limit and no ties. You will keep fighting until one of the two of you is knocked out."

"Very well."

Natsu grinned, "I'm all fired up!" He shouted and slammed his fist into his palm. Then his face darkened as he glared at the Death Cloud- making the other mages glad that they weren't the angry Salamander's opponent.

Gajeel smirked, "Looks like Death Cloud has dug their own grave." He said and leaned back- he loved idiots who stepped in a fight when the Salamander was angry... even though he had been that idiot at one point.

Still- the fights were fun to watch.

Gray nodded, Natsu certainly was focused-

The announcer got out of range of the two Mages (moving a little farther back then he usually did since he could cut the tension between the two mages). "And let the match began!" He yelled and the crowd roared.

Makarov tensed up- _here we go._

...FT...

Natsu jumped out of the way of an attack then yelled and ran at Dallas- his fist on fire and punched, barely grazing his opponent. "This guy's fast," Natsu mumbled as he was forced to dodge another attack.

He flipped over and sucked in as much air as he could get, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He yelled and attacked- a huge wall of fire shooting at Dallas and Natsu lost sight of him for a moment.

Suddenly Dallas stood behind Natsu and swung his knife- caching Natsu's shoulder blade. Natsu yelped and jumped forward, spinning to face him and did a quick examination of the wound. "Damn." The cut wasn't all that deep but it hurt like hell- and it was in a bad spot.

Natsu looked over just in time to see Dallas like his blood off the knife.

"That's disturbing."

Dallas laughed and threw the knife to the side, Natsu watched as the knife turned into dust and vanished in the wind*. Then Natsu quickly looked forward as Dallas spoke, "You're fire magic is now useless against me."

"Oh yeah?" Natsu yelled and ran forward- fist on fire, "Fire Dragon's-" He swung his fist and made perfect contact with Dallas's face, "IRON FIST!"

The attack struck and everything exploded in an incredible amount of heat. Smoke and dust hid the two mages from the audience for a moment- as it settled it revealed Natsu's fist against Dallas's cheek- and Dallas completely unharmed.

It was easy to see the shock on Natsu's face as he watched an attack that left so many enemies out cold not even leave a scratch on Dallas.

 _No way- is this guy really that strong? But I don't sense that much magic of of him-_

"I already told you-" Dallas spoke calmly- not like someone who had just been punched. "-You're fire magic is useless against me."

Natsu stared in shock and disbelief.

Then Dallas attacked, leaving a solid punch to Natsu's ribs- throwing him into a nearby wall.

Gray's face was set in a grim line as he heard the Fire Mage yelp when the punch struck- telling him exactly where that attack had hit.

Natsu winced as he crashed into the ground, knowing full well that Dallas's punch had landed on his just mended ribs. He bit his lower lip to keep himself from gasping as he pushed himself onto his knees.

Dallas smirked, "You shouted. Looks like I found the wound I asked Iia to leave on you."

"What?" Natsu snarled and stood up- glaring at Dallas with murderous intent that would make most people prefer to be fighting Zeref himself.

Dallas laughed and looked into Natsu's eyes with an evil smirk, "Really- Natsu Dragneel, you can be so predictable."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu snapped.

Dallas walked forward, "We knew that when we hurt one of your friends that you'd be the first to jump in. So when the time came I asked each member of my guild to leave a wound on you if they were the one to fight you. A wound to weaken you- not kill you, just weaken." He smiled- seeing Natsu's scowl deepen. "I also asked them to make sure that the friend that you would save to be injured- bad enough so you would ignore your own injuries. So predictable- I knew that you would leave your own injuries untreated to make sure that your friend was fully healed."

"So you had Lucy hurt-"

"As a trap you may say." Dallas sneered, "We decided to pick the weakest of your teammates- it would make our plan easier." he walked forward, "You're not leaving this arena alive-"

"Lucy is not weak!" Natsu yelled and attack, his fury fueling him. Fire shot everywhere as he struck again and again.

Dallas took each attack with a smile on his face, "I already told you- your magic is useless-"

The next punch had no fire and sent him crashing into a wall, "Then I won't use my magic!" He roared and rand up- kicking Dallas in the head.

"Alright Natsu!" Macao yelled and Wakuba whistled as Dallas was thrown across the arena and into another wall.

Dallas hit the wall and then crashed into the ground, leaving the crowd to focus on Natsu's angered face. "You hurt my Nakama for a reason as dumb as that! Don't think your magic is gonna save your ass!" Natsu yelled.

Dallas laughed, pushing himself up off the ground. "Not use any magic? Good. 'Cause I can still use my full magic on you!"

Suddenly his magical energy spiked and it was at least four times the original amount. Natsu flinched from the sudden change, and suddenly Dallas appeared in front of him and slammed the palm of his hand into Natsu's chest and a pulse of magical energy rang out- throwing Natsu back.

The Fire Dragon Slayer knew that there was something wrong even before taking a good look at himself, from bending over with deep coughs.

Pain ran through Natsu's body and he felt like he was coughing up something. The Fire Mage opened his eyes and saw dark red blood splattered on the ground. He frowned as he recognized the coppery taste in his mouth before coughing even more.

Natsu wiped his mouth and cursed- forcing himself to stand up before the announcer had any doubts of him being in the fight. He turned and glared at Dallas straight in the eyes. Natsu could tell just by looking at the Dark Mage that this wasn't some fight over a measly point. Natsu was fighting for his life- these were the guys that Zeref mentioned.

He scowled- _they also hurt Lucy- these bastards are dragging people who have nothing to do with this into this mess! They hurt my Nakama!_ Rage refueled itself and Natsu took a step forward.

Natsu scowled and spat to the side- before attacking.

...FT...

Gray watched as Natsu fought. The Fire Mage was pushing himself- but Gray could tell that he was slowing down.

 _He's a lot worse than he's letting on._

Gray peeked over at Erza, seeing her nod. Both of them were willing to jump into the fight the second it looked like Natsu couldn't go on. And if it cost a point, well the Fairy Tail Mages had ceased worrying about points. This was obviously getting much more dangerous than they had signed up for.

Gray stepped closer to the wall and noticed something. It was like the Ice Mage was watching the fight through a thin layer of glass. Gray put out his hand and didn't even make it over the ledge before it hit a barrier.

Gray peeked over at Erza, who stared at him- face already pale as she realized the truth. This fight had just got hundreds of times more dangerous.

Unlike Lucy- there would be no back up.

...FT...

Natsu slammed into a wall and slumped for a second before he pushed himself with a new plan forming in his mind.

He coughed up more blood- cursing. _I'm getting light headed- I need to end this quickly._ He looked back up- his vision doubling for a moment. Fire danced around his feet and he ran forward with amazing speed, slamming into Dallas and slamming him into a wall. Then he ran forward- pushing past the dizzy spell- flame on his elbow and launched a powerful fireless punch, just like he did when he fought Yuka on Galuna Island.

Dallas crashed into the wall with enough force to break it and have some of the debris fall on him along with a dust cloud thrown in the air. Natsu wobbled, but managed to stay up and forced his screaming lungs to take in air- causing pain to rip through his body.

Natsu coughed and spit out more blood, cursing when he could see Dallas standing up in the dust. "Smart!" The figure spoke, "Looks like you do have some brains after all!" Dallas stepped out of the dust cloud examining a bruise on his stomach. "You can't use your fire to attack me directly, so you're using it as a launcher to enhance your physical attacks. He looked up at Natsu with a sneer on his face, "One problem with that-"

Suddenly he appeared in front of Natsu and Natsu screamed in pain as Dallas's pulse attack struck his left shoulder.

Natsu was thrown back and crashed painfully into the ground and slid a bit before stopping.

"Natsu!" The Fire Mage was easily able to distinguish his blue haired flying friend from the rest of the crowd.

Makarov gritted his teeth, next to him Macao leaned in closer, "Come on kid get up."

"Come on Natsu, be a real man!" Elfman yelled and peeked over at his sister.

Mira bit her lower lip, "That attack did a lot of damage- Natsu was already struggling with that first attack, now he has even more injuries- he won't be able to attack Dallas head on-"

"But he can't use fire magic against him." Lisanna pointed out and Mira nodded.

Natsu tried to push himself up, but yelped upon putting pressure on his left arm. So he resorted to his right arm and he was able to stand up.

"Good, you can still stand."Dallas sneered, "It'll be that much more fun when I knock you down for the final time."

Natsu winced and held his left arm as pain racked through it, from his shoulder to his fingertips. Telling him that his left arm was useless. He had to focus in order to get a good breath, his knees were shaking as they were trying to hold him up, and he was so dizzy. Natsu knew that he wouldn't be able to get a step in before he collapsed. _I have to attack him from here- if I pass out I'm dead._ Natsu bit his lower lip as more pain ran through his body. _I need another plan-_ Natsu looked up, "Y-your magic- I don't get it at all... w-what the hell is it?"

Dallas sneered, "I guess I can tell you before I kill you. My magic allows me to choose a certain element and make anti-bodies for it. Basically and anti-fire barrier for you. I could tell you were a Fire based Dragon Slayer since your blood tasted like fire-"

"I've been fighting with fire since day one... y-you wouldn't need to taste anything to tell that I-I was a Fire Mage." Natsu pointed out- at the same time a brief curiosity ran through Natsu, making him wonder if his blood really did taste like fire, and if it did- what kind? Being a Fire Dragon Slayer he had tasted many different kinds of fire.

But he shoved that idea aside and spoke up, "So that's why... my fire magic is useless again- against you."

"Precisely."

"A-and let me guess... since you're anti- w-whatever thingys are spec-ifically against fire right now-" He took another deep breath, "Making it so other e-elements can affect you."

Dallas sighed, looking annoyed with himself, "Unfortunately- and I can only change the element once per day."

"Which... is w-why you waited for a one-on-one f-fight to act."

"Very good." Dallas clapped as if praising a child.

Natsu coughed, "Last question- w-why are you telling me all of this?"

Dallas laughed, "Because after this I don't need to stick around so it doesn't matter-" he went on but Natsu ignored him- hearing all he needed to.

Natsu shot a glare at the announcer- giving him the silent "make a sound and I'll kill you" threat that he had seen Erza do many times before, and the look on the announcer's face told him he understood. Then he turned to his opponent- knowing full well that Dallas was too cocky to worry about an injured opponent that couldn't move or use magic against him-

 _Somebody didn't do his homework-_

Electricity sparked around Natsu and he sucked in air, pushing past the pain.

"Yes!" Macao cheered- understanding what was going on.

The rest of the Light Mages in the game smiled as they realized the plan.

Natsu held his breath for a moment, "Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar!" Then he attacked.

Dallas turned, "I already told you-" His eyes grew wide as he realized what was happening- but it was too late.

The attack struck, then it struck the barrier and shot up into the sky- pointing out to the whole country where they were. After the attack subsided nobody could see Dallas, but Natsu was visible.

"Good- 'cause thanks to Laxus... a few of my attacks have more than fire-" his sentence was cut off by his legs giving out and Natsu hacking up more blood onto the arena floor.

 _That better have worked-_ Natsu thought as he coughed even more, forcing himself to breathe. _Because I can't even speak- let alone fight._

He coughed again and pain shot through his body.

Suddenly Dallas appeared in front of Natsu- he was beat up, but still conscious. "So you want to use big attacks do you?"

A look of horror crossed Natsu's face before he was kicked back- crashing into the wall.

Natsu coughed up more blood and after a moment tried to get back up, he didn't have to do much because Dallas was there again and grabbed Natsu's left shoulder, dragging him to a standing position.

Natsu let out a mangled cry and bit his lower lip to try to stop himself from crying out anymore. "I think I'm done playing with you." Dallas said and pointed a finger.

An attack shot past Natsu's head crumbling the part of the wall and destroying that part of the barrier.

Natsu flinched and peeked back seeing a three foot deep hole next to his head. "That was at ten percent." Dallas said and shook Natsu's shoulder- causing Natsu to cry out again, "So what happens if I fire it at one hundred percent?"

Before Natsu had any time to react Dallas let him go and struck his injured shoulder, making him cry out and collapse again. He looked up just in time to see the bright flash from Dallas's attack engulf him.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **...FT...**

 **Well there's Chapter eight!**

 **I'll make sure to update soon!**

 **Feel free to review- but no Flames!**

 *** When I was writing this part I had u-Tube on random shuffle and for some reason a song from Gone with the Wind came on... My computers possessed- or at least has a sense of humor...**


	10. Chapter 9

**Here's Chapter nine!**

 **Thanks for the reviews from**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-cheeseries**

 **-himekuroyuki853**

 **-BigChillFreak**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-Enjail**

 **-StardustDragongirl44**

 **-Aj neko**

 **-Dank Dang**

 **-RedFire**

 **-Guest**

 **Feel free to review- but no Flames!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail! All rights go to Hiro Mashima!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **...FT...**

"Natsu!" Happy screamed.

Everything was ripped apart- the ground, the wall. The audience had to evacuate that part of the stands as rubble was thrown high into the sky and the stands collapsed in on themselves. The Light Mages felt their guts twist in fear as they lost sight of the pink-haired Mage.

It took several minutes for everything to start settling down.

Makarov could only stare in shock as the dust finally settled- revealing an unmoving Natsu. His fists clenched as he couldn't sense anything from the boy.

He didn't even have to look over at his grandson, Laxus had already taken off. The match would be called and if Natsu had any chance of survival he needed help immediately.

It seemed like the others had started to wake from their state of shock when he heard Gray scream, "Natsu!" And he tried to jump down- slamming into the barrier again and again in order to try to get to him, putting incredible strain on what was supposed to be an unbreakable barrier.

Gray's reaction was surprising- but at the same time it wasn't. They fought a lot- but the whole guild knew that they always had each other's backs when needed. Makarov himself was doing everything in his power not to turn into his colossal titan form and rip the whole arena apart. However that did no good to hide the anger radiating off of him- which made even the Fairy Tail guild members back away from him. Have been ones to see how Makarov reacted to his children getting injured.

Happy stood crying, and trembling- not taking his eyes off his friend. Hoping for some sign of life- but the Dragon Slayer was still.

Dallas laughed and walked towards the limp Natsu. "Well I haven't heard my name called as the winner yet so I'm assuming that the fight is still going on." He said with a sneer as he stood over Natsu- then he kicked him, sending him flying and crashing into the wall. Then he walked up to the Dragon Slayer again and grabbed his hair- yanking him up, "Oh what's the matter? Already done?" He snickered and threw him once again into the wall- where Natsu slid down and laid still on the ground. "Cause I'm just getting started." The man sneered and walked towards the unconscious Mage once more.

Team Fairy Tail stood in the stands shaking with anger as they watched their friend- their magical energy reeking of hatred as the man struck him again. That was for the ones who hadn't already taken off ready to go on a rampage.

"Natsu-san!" Sting yelled, "Get the hell away from him!" He yelled- his anger almost sending him into Dragon Force right there in the crowd and slammed into the barrier, "Damn it- let me through!" He shouted then turned to the announcer, "Just call the damn match already you idiot!" He roared.

That seemed to wake the announcer out of his shock, the poor guy getting the daylights scared out of him by a very pissed off Dragon Slayer- but at the same time no one felt the need to apologize. The announcer jumped and stammered, "Th- the winner of the match-" He froze.

Before he could finish Natsu's body gave off a huge pulse of magic energy- freezing the crowd as it passed by.

Sting was about to yell again when the wave passed him by- he looked down at the unconscious Dragon Slayer and stared in shock. Rogue stood next to him and the White Dragon Slayer didn't- couldn't- respond as the Shadow Dragon Slayer mumbled. "Was that Natsu-san?"

Lector trembled, "That can't be-"

Frosch quickly his behind Lector and whimpered, "Frosch thinks so too-"

Makarov froze as the energy passed him by, never before had he sensed such powerful magic- or such dark magic. He swore that not even the Black Wizard Zeref's magic was this evil.

He gritted his teeth and watched Natsu closely, _what now?_

Suddenly he felt magic in Natsu again- but it was the same magic as before. Dark and cold, not the warm and passionate magic that the Fairy Tail guild had grown used to throughout the years.

For a moment Natsu didn't move- then everybody took notice of a twitch of the Fire Mage's fingers- a moment later he was pushing himself off the ground with a pained groan. The Fire Mage easily stood up, using both arms- as if his left arm hadn't been shattered earlier in the fight.

"Ouch" The Fire Dragon Slayer mumbled as he touched his left shoulder, "You really did beat the crap out of this body." He said, not even bothering to look at Dallas.

Macao leaned forward, "He's up!" He exclaimed, "How the hell- not that I'm complaining-" he rambled- but was interrupted by a takeover mage.

"Something's different." Mira whispered as she stared at the Dragon Slayer with fear in her eyes, "I've got a bad feeling off of him."

Wakuba peeked over, "Off of Natsu?"

"That's not Natsu-" Mira whispered- not taking her eyes off the Fire Mage in the arena.

Macao peeked over at Natsu, he also got a weird feeling off of their friendly (yet destructive) Dragon Slayer. "Then who the hell is that?" He asked- not that anybody could give him an answer.

Dallas stared in shock as the Dragon Slayer picked up his scarf- examining it before putting it aside with a bored look on his face, "That's impossible, you should be dead! Unless-"

Natsu cut him off- not letting him finish, "If I had been anyone else then I would be dead. You should really watch what attacks you use." Then he looked up at Dallas with gleaming red eyes and smirked, "You wouldn't want to kill anyone now would you? These are just games after all." He said in a tone that almost sounded like teasing.

Makarov frowned even deeper, Macao looked over at the Master- sensing that those weren't Natsu's "I'm gonna beat the crap out of you" red eyes that he heard happened in really intense fights- those were much darker. Not to mention that Natsu normally didn't taunt during a fight- he did once he was really into it, but these were also very different. He wasn't trying to pick a fight- he was making fun of someone who had almost killed him.

Despite how wounded Natsu appeared, he walked forward and through the rubble with ease. "I don't really have much time, so I think I'll end this with one attack." He said as he moved his injured shoulder- as if testing if it still worked. He frowned and seemed to be thinking about something as he stepped over a piece of rubble- still moving closer to Dallas.

Dallas laughed, however Natsu didn't even take notice- he still seemed to be lost in thought, or he didn't give a damn as the man spoke. "You idiot! Did you forget that your fire magic is useless-"

Then Natsu moved.

Before anybody could even blink Natsu stood about twenty feet behind Dallas, and a second later everything within ten feet of Dallas exploded in a dark red fire.

Dallas, the wall, the rubble, and even the air itself burned as if the fire itself was angry. The attack didn't last very long- about one second before the flames vanished as quickly as they had first thing appeared.

Makarov and the other Mages felt something was missing from Dallas and the area surrounding him as the flames disappeared.

Dallas collapsed, leaving Natsu the one standing. "But- how-" the Dark Mage gasped.

Natsu didn't even look back at the man, he hadn't even moved from his spot and seemed more interested with the wall he was facing then the wounded enemy behind him. "It doesn't matter what your magic is if you don't have it." Finally Natsu looked back, "I burned all the magic particles out of your body and the area surrounding you." He said as if that explained everything as he walked up and knelt down- keeping his voice quiet enough so the crowd couldn't hear him, "Besides- your magic stops magic." He smirked, "So I didn't use magic."

Dallas paled as he realized who this was- but his throat felt like sandpaper and he was unable to speak, causing the Fire Mage to chuckle, "Not so much fun when you're the scared one is it?"

Dallas remained silent as he trembled in fear.

Natsu stood up and spoke loud enough again so the crowd could hear him, "You might get your magic back- that depends if your body is still capable of restoring itself- so it's a fifty-fifty." He snickered, "Either way it'll take a little while- so I don't think your Dark Guild will keep you around." Then the Fire Mage walked over to where he left his scarf with a sigh and picked up the cloth- but not putting it on- adding to the oddity of the situation.

The crowd remained silent as they took the time to register what had just happened. Oddly enough Makarov stood silently- almost seeming calm as he watched the Dragon Slayer with a slight frown.

"Burning magic particles?" Gray whispered to himself. He stared at the Fire Mage- unaware that Natsu had such a power, or even that speed. He never saw a thing during Natsu's attack. The Flamebrain was fast- but not that fast...

Gray peeked back at Erza and a small exchange of glances told the two Mages that this wasn't their friendly ear-to-ear grinning, flame eating idiot that they had grown up with.

Whoever that person was- whatever was down there was much more dangerous.

"Amazing!" The announcer shouted, "Despite suffering what should have been fatal injuries and was unmoving for several minutes- the winner of the match is Natsu Dragneel!"

The announcer shouted on but Natsu- along with any of the Mage Guilds (light or dark) - ignored him as Natsu quickly and quietly exited the arena slipping on the scarf on the way out.

Makarov frowned- thinking to himself-

...FT...

Natsu stepped into the hallway with a sigh and closed the door to the arena behind him, blocking out the sound of the cheering crowd that was outside. He leaned against the door and looked at his hand with a frown, opening and closing it as if he were testing how it worked.

"You aren't the kid are you?"

Natsu blinked in surprise and peeked over, seeing and intimidating Laxus standing, leaning against the wall- glaring at him. "Who the hell are you?" Laxus asked- shifting so he stood menacingly tall over Natsu.

Natsu smirked, not even the least bit intimidated by Laxus, "Does that really matter? All that matters is that the brat is still alive thanks to me." He pushed himself off the door and took a couple of steps forward, despite his body looking like that it was ready to collapse- if it already hadn't. Laxus frowned and stepped forward. Natsu took no threat in the move and looked ahead as if he was thinking about something (adding to the list of odd things- seeing how their friendly Dragon Slayer rarely thought of anything.). "However, I could only stop the attack from killing him. Any of the wounds he was supposed to get he received. I'd get him to a medic quickly if you want to keep him alive." He said then was quiet once more.

Then the red in Natsu's eyes disappeared and they returned to the Fire Mages normal, friendly onyx ones. Natsu stood for a moment- confused, then his eyes closed and he collapsed, "Son of a-" Laxus cursed, catching him before he hit the ground.

Laxus frowned down at the unconscious Dragon Slayer in his arms. (Not that he wasn't normally frowning- just a different one.)

 _Now what?_

"Natsu!" Happy screamed and flew forward towards his unconscious friend as Laxus laid him on the ground, Laxus moving to make sure that the Fire Mage was still breathing.

Happy landed next to his friend, "Natsu!" He cried and gently touched his friend's arm, trying not to cause the Fire Mage any more pain- but just enough to reassure him that he was still alive.

"Natsu-san!" Sting shoved his way through the forming crowd and slid next to Natsu, he looked over the Dragon Slayer in horror- since he looked much worse close up,"Natsu-san can you hear me?"

"It's no use he's out cold." Laxus said.

Lacrima vision, or distance vision couldn't detail just how bad the Dragon Slayer looked- he was covered in cuts and bruises and his skin was clammy and pale- his scarf was almost a shade darker than his skin. He was breathing heavily- trying to gasp for air and his face was scrunched in pain as his body trembled and he was covered in sweat and blood.

Laxus cursed- knowing that they needed to get him to a doctor, and fast-

"Move out of the way-" Said the familiar stern voice of Erza as she- followed by Gray and Gajeel approached. "We're from his guild." The crowd moved, not wanting to be the target of a clearly pissed off Titania Erza.

Gajeel stood back in the crowd and Gray stood close enough to have a view of his injured rival as Erza knelt down (Sting moving out of the way for her). The first thing she checked was Natsu's pulse- it was weak but it was still there, along with his shallow breathing.

She looked up and down Natsu's body one time- no doubt memorizing every one of Natsu's wounds so she could inflict them on whichever poor sap from Death Cloud happened to cross her path later on.

The Fairy Queen looked like she was calm- except to those who knew her, those who did could practically see panic written all over her face as she looked at the struggling Mage. However, they could also see the anger radiating off of her, telling them to stay back.

It took everything in the world just for Erza not to go and wipe out Death Cloud that moment- mainly telling herself that she needed to be here right now to keep the rest of the guild calm. Because if she lost it-

Then who knows what the rest of the guild may do-

Jura stepped forward- others moving mainly due to his large size. He frowned as he checked the Fire Mage's breathing. "He needs a medic-" He said- pointing out what everybody already knew. Then he looked over as if he noticed something and stood up as the crowd split letting one short, old, and angry man walk through.

"Make a space- it's the Fairy Tail Guild Master," someone spoke up, and for those idiots that didn't notice him a path was made- letting the Master approach. He took one look at Natsu then spoke to Laxus in a tone that didn't let off what he was feeling- which was a good thing at the moment, but at the same exact time it made the old man seem all the more dangerous. Nobody dared look him in the eye as he spoke, "Get him to Porlyusica."

Laxus nodded and picked up his fellow Dragon Slayer, rushing off with a crying Happy and the Master following him, the crowd moved aside for them and Laxus was able to maneuver so no one or nothing would bump into the Salamander- who wouldn't be able to take one more hit.

For a moment nobody else moved, the air itself seemed frozen as everybody took a second to register what had happened.

Then anybody that wasn't in the Fairy Tail Guild slowly took a step away from somebody that was as pure anger radiated off of them. The Guild members remained silent- however their faces screamed murder. Everybody in Fiore- especially the Mages had heard rumors of what Fairy Tail would do if one of their Nakama was hurt- some of them had even seen the sight (or had been the ones that suffered their wrath) and remembered their wish to never see it again...

...FT...

Lucy heard the infirmary doors open and the bustling of people as they rushed in. And the door was left open as the bed next to her was cleared. She could barely understand the Master's voice as he rushed to get Porlyusica.

She didn't get a chance to roll over and see who the person was before they had laid the person down and Laxus had blocked her view. She looked around and spotted the blue fur of Happy, "Happy?" she questioned.

 _If he was here-_

The blue Exceed took one look at Lucy and burst into tears, he flew over as fast as he could- sobbing and slamming into her chest. "It's Natsu!" He wailed, "He's- He's hurt!"

 _Natsu?_

She looked over and was able to catch a glimpse of familiar pink hair. She stared in shock as it ran through her- she was aware that Natsu had a fight today. He had stopped by just before- exactly like he did during the Grand Magic Games. But it was supposed to be exactly like last time- Natsu was supposed to use his anger to completely wipe out the enemy like he always did-

Not end up in the infirmary beside her- what the heck happened? Worry ran through her as Porlyusica rushed into the room. Asking her question, "What in the world happened?"

The members were still in shock- but the Master was still able to speak up, "He was injured in the match."

The medic took one look at Natsu then called over Wendy and Sherria who had been standing in the doorway, they rushed in and Laxus backed off to give them room to heal him. "We need to work fast- worry about the life threatening injuries for now." The Medic said.

Lucy was able to get a look at Natsu's pained face as the Fire Mage struggled to breathe. She stared in shock as she took in the amount of injuries he had- her gut twisting as she registered just how bad of shape he was in and how pale he was- and was getting. Then she looked over at the Master, who stood nearby with a grim look on his face. "Is he going to be okay?"

Makarov kept his eyes on the Fire Mage as he spoke, "He's going to have to fight hard but he'll pull through." Finally the Master peeked over at Lucy- sensing the Celestial Mages worry, "His heart is strong and he's too stubborn to give up- he'll be fine."

Lucy looked over as Natsu took a painful gasp of air and she slowly nodded- her gut still twisted in knots. Then she hugged her crying blue friend.

...FT...

The man in the black cloak frowned at the broken arena far below him. "Is this why you had me heal him?" Koroku asked the man standing in the shadows behind him. "Heal him so he can get several times injured- you really are a sick bastard."

The man was quiet and Koroku peeked back, "Was that what you were looking for?"

"Indeed it was- the seal is starting to weaken- soon it will be broken."

Koroku frowned and looked away, "Yeah- but how?"

The man remained silent once again and Koroku huffed in annoyance, "Fine- keep you secrets you old fart!" He snapped.

"I shall."

Koroku frowned, staring at a piece of rubble far below him- absentmindedly wondering how they were going to fix the arena this time-

Suddenly he turned back. "By the way- shouldn't we be trying to make sure that the seal _doesn't_ break instead of pushing it so it will break _faster_? Last time I checked that _was_ your job-"

"It is far too late for that."

"Oh for the love of- will you just answer my question already!" Koroku snapped and looked away, "And I thought Zeref was bad with that."

"There is nothing we can do to prevent the seal from breaking now."

Koroku looked back down at the arena- seemingly thinking to himself. After a moment he sat down with a _"Tch!"_ and glared up at the sky, "Dammit."

...FT...

It took several hours of Porlyusica, Wendy, Sherria, and Makarov of healing, medicine, and bandaging before they felt comfortable just letting him rest.

Wendy and Sherria found a bed to get some much needed sleep in. Leaving Porlyusica and Makarov to attend Natsu. Porlyusica checked the brace on Natsu's shoulder one more time with a frown. "We were forced to worry about more serious wounds, so were only able to set the bones back in place. We can support it with healing magic- speeding up the process a bit, but most of it will need to heal on its own. Whatever magic his opponent used it completely destroyed his shoulder and collarbone- I'm amazed that he was able to move, let alone fight." She said as she peeked back at Lucy, who had fallen asleep hugging Happy. Then she turned away- looking back at the Guild Master with an unreadable expression on her face.

Makarov looked over at the two of them then back to Natsu- whose face was still scrunched in pain as he let out a small whimper. "I'm such a fool." Makarov whispered- careful not to wake any of them. He moved in, brushing some of Natsu's sweaty bangs out of his face to let the Dragon Slayer know that he wasn't alone- settling him, "I should have pulled him from the game as soon as I knew that he was in danger-"

Porlyusica looked over, "Like this boy would even listen?"

Makarov frowned- knowing full well that the Fire Mage would not- claiming that he could handle it.

Then the medic spoke again, "If I remember correctly Zeref had warned the boy that he was in danger?"

Makarov nodded silently- once again not saying a word out loud as he thought to himself. Then he was brought back to the present by the medic speaking once again in a flat tone.

"Not really a trustworthy source of information I'd agree." Porlyusica said with a sigh, then there was a random mood switch and she hit the Master with a random broom that appeared in her hand. "You idiot, you knew that this might happen? This is why I hate humans!" She yelled- not bothering with the worry that she might wake somebody up and scowled down at the sleeping Natsu, "Looks like I'm going to have to teach this brat a lesson as well."

Makarov looked over at the medic.

"Some of his wound are older." She said and he sighed.

Then he frowned to himself and looked back at Natsu, _those must've been from the attack on Lucy- I'm such a fool, of course he wouldn't go get himself healed. Not with Lucy still needing healing-_ But he didn't dare say anything out loud for fear of the medic's wrath.

"However," Makarov looked over at Porlyusica and frowned at the puzzled look on her face. That could never be a good thing- "Some of his older wounds have been healed."

Makarov raised an eyebrow, "So he went to Wendy at some point?" He asked- even though it was doubtful- since the Sky Dragon Slayer hadn't left Porlyusica's side since Lucy was injured.

"No- this is not the work of Sky Magic. Whatever healed him is much older- and much more complicated. The bones themselves had been knitted together- making it barely noticeable that the breaks even existed." She said then peeked over, "Whoever did this is an expert. They were able to heal the wound enough so he would be able to fight, but the person didn't heal it enough so I could detect exactly what it was." The medic said with furrowed eyebrows.

"So this person is hiding his presence for some reason?"

"So it would seem- this person may also be connected to whatever is going on here." She peeked down at the Master, "The question is- is he an enemy or an ally?"

The Master opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a knock at the door- followed by a soft cough.

He turned and spotted Lord Backenstall standing in the doorway, he peeked over at the sleeping Natsu, "How is the boy?" he asked quietly as if his voice could wake up the Dragon Slayer- which even on a normal day would be rare.

"He is sleeping." Porlyusica stated the obvious, "He won't be up until the earliest tomorrow afternoon." She said with a frown. (Again- she normally did frown, but this was slightly different. More annoyed than usual.)

Lord Backenstall sighed and nodded, stepping into the room. "I thought so, I tried to explain that to Lord Shantire-"

"What did he do?" Makarov interrupted- his tone of voice giving off that he was clearly not impressed about hearing the Lord's name at the moment.

"Shantire was so impressed by the boy's last match he wants him in tomorrow's special match." Backenstall said and Makarov looked back at Natsu with a worried look in his eyes, as he looked over the unconscious Dragon Slayer before he looked back over at Lord Backenstall.

"Special match?" Makarov demanded.

Lord Backenstall nodded, "Yes tomorrow is supposed to be a team match. Two from each guild will compete. Of course we get to choose the other Lord's players." He said as if that were to be expected, "Shantire asked for Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster in the next match."

Makarov frowned, _Natsu wouldn't be awake in time._ He peeked over at the Fire Mage, _and even if he did-_

"Even if he does in some miracle wake up in time I don't want him fighting for the next couple of days." Porlyusica spoke Makarov's thoughts as if she could read them, her voice growing even more stern and the broom ready in hand for anyone who refused.

Nobody dared to deny the medic what she wanted, "So we need a replacement-" Makarov said, thinking of a few people that could work.

"We've already got one."

Everybody looked back at the doorway, now with Gray filling the space, with a rare sight- even rarer then Gildarts- standing behind him.

"Who?" Lord Backenstall asked.

"Cyrus." Makarov stared in shock at the girl that the guild hadn't seen in years- she had been gone even longer then Gildarts- even without the seven year gap and all the fights she hadn't shown up once.

 _Of all the places- why here?_

The black haired Fairy Tail Mage nodded, "I'm back Master."

...FT...

The man in the black hood suddenly stood up, frowning.

The man in the white robes looked over at the man, "Is there something wrong Koroku?" He asked.

Koroku looked back, "Do you not sense that?"

The man in the white robes sighed, "Yes she appeared after Natsu was knocked unconscious." He said and leaned back.

The third man looked over at Koroku, "What's the matter- worried about some little girl?" The man teased as he took another drink. "Afraid you can't handle her?"

"If she turns out to be an enemy then I will kill her without a moment's hesitation." Koroku said, glaring at the third man. Then he looked away, "That's not what I'm worried about."

The drinking man raised an eyebrow in interest.

Koroku frowned, "Her magic- it feels like _his_."

 **.**

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 **.**

 **.**

 **...FT...**

 **Well there's chapter nine!**

 **For those of You Desperately trying to remember who Cyrus is don't bother- she's my own OC. XD**

 **I figures that there would be a few people- a friend of mine was one of them.**

 **I'll make sure to update soon!**

 **Feel free to review- but no flames!**


	11. Chapter 10

**And here's chapter ten!**

 **I'm sorry it took forever to update! Finals and I just got a new job, worst timing ever-**

 **Just a little warning there is my own Oc in here- no I'm not shipping her with anybody- I kinda like where Hiro is going with the ships so I'm not going to get involved with that. She's just here to help with the plot like the rest.**

 **Thanks for the reviews from-**

 **-Quest**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-Luna Dragneel-Demon Princess**

 **-cheeseries**

 **-Enjail**

 **-Bigchillfreak**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **To Snowflake- don't feel bad! All reviews are excepted (well most) When I wrote it I kinda thought the same thing, but back then that's how I honestly thought E.N.D would come around- the book opening idea was just way too easy and I like putting poor Natsu into danger! (Insert maniacal laughter here)**

 **To Luna Dragneel-Demon Princess- don't worry it'll be in here- because I love that stuff too. I can't really promise Gratsu- but I'll leave it open so if you find any let me know it'll be fun! I just need to expand on my Oc a little bit so she actually has a point of being in here and isn't just an annoying add on...**

 **Feel free to review- but no flames plz!**

 **...FT...**

The girl had short black hair with silver eyes. She wore a black and purple Victorian era women's trench coat with a purple tank top, and black shorts and boots. She was about the same size as Erza.

"Cyrus Nightwalker." Makarov introduced her to the newer mages.

Pantherlily frowned, _Nightwalker. Does this woman have anything to do with Erza Knightwalker from Edolas?_

Gajeel looked over- seeing the frown on the black Exceed's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing."

 _No- she doesn't even look like her- it must be just a coincidence._ The Exceed told himself- however, that didn't settle the feeling in his gut.

Gajeel turned to Cyrus, "So you'll be fighting in Salamander's place for this match?" Gajeel asked- more curious on where this girl came from. He had never heard of a Cyrus of Fairy Tail- not even when he was in Phantom.

Cyrus nodded, "I will. However, I can't stay long- I still have some unfinished business." She said and the entire guild practically thought as one.

 _What? Is it the same thing you've been doing for the past ten years?_

Makarov sighed and nodded. _Hopefully she can keep her temper under control-_ the Master felt like crying then and there- _who am I kidding? The rest of the Guild is one bad news away from smashing Death Cloud into mush- Cyrus has had a worse temper than Mira back when she was the She-Devil. As long as she keeps the damage in the arena._ "Very well Cyrus."

Lord Backenstall nodded, "Then I will let Lord Shantire know that Cyrus Knightwalker will have to fight in Natsu Dragneel's place."

Then he left and Makarov turned away.

Macao walked up to Gray and Cyrus. "Make 'em pay."

"I plan to." Cyrus said and Gray nodded. Then Cyrus turned away and walked off, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Then she walked into the shadows.

Makarov sighed and frowned at where Cyrus had disappeared. _Why did you show up now? What are you after Cyrus?_

...FT...

It was quiet in the infirmary as Natsu slept. Lucy slept holding onto the blue Exceed- who had refused to leave the room.

Erza had sat in the chair against the wall and was fast asleep, sword in hand- just to be on the safe side.

The Master sat in a chair next to Natsu's bed and seemed to be asleep for the first time in days- even though they all knew he would be awake in a split second if anything were to happen.

The only ones who were up were Porlyusica- who was rummaging around, making a painkiller for when Natsu would wake up.

Then there was Gray, who was sitting in the chair on the other side of Natsu's bed- thinking quietly to himself. The Ice Mage peeked over at the Dragon Slayer- still trying to take it in. Even though the Flamebrain was the first person to pick a fight, he was also the last he expected to be in the infirmary in this bad of condition.

"You're supposed to be helping me kick these guy's asses for hurting out Nakama- not the one that they hurt." He growled then glared ahead. _I had been so focused on Black Knight, I let Death Cloud walk right in._

Gray looked down to his hands in his lap and cursed to himself silently.

After a moment Gray sat back and looked over at Natsu's face- which was tense with pain. "I'll make them pay for this."

Natsu didn't answer- he didn't even move.

...FT...

Everybody- besides the Mages participating in the match was up in the audience. The Mages that were in the match were in their specific waiting areas.

Gray and Cyrus stood behind closed doors- the anger on their faces made them look even more intimidating then they already were. "I'm not going to ask why you showed up now out of all the times." Gray said and Cyrus nodded.

"I appreciate it."

"Ready?" Gray asked- not looking at Cyrus.

"Ready." Cyrus answered without looking at the Ice Mage. Then the doors opened and they walked forward- ignoring the cheering crowd and focused on their opponents ahead of them, namely Death Cloud.

"And all the teams are out!" The announcer yelled, "From Sabertooth! Rogue Cheney and Orga Nanagear!"

The crowd cheered as the Mages thought to themselves- _odd pairing._ Then the announcer continued, "Blue Pegasus, Eve Tearm and the beautiful Jenny Realight! Lyon Vastia and Toby Horborta from Lamia Scale! Millianna and Arana Web from Mermaid Heel!"

The crowd cheered too loud so the announcer had to give them a moment. Makarov looked down at Gray and Cyrus. "Be careful you two."

"There's no need to be worried." Macao snickered, "I'd be more worried for Death Cloud- those two are ready to kick some serious butt."

"And Fairy Tail- looking like they mean business- Gray Fullbuster and Cyrus Nightwalker!" The announcer yelled.

The crowd cheered- despite only recognizing one of the names and Lord Shantire leaned over to Lord Backenstall. "I hope this Cyrus woman will make this fight at least a bit interesting."

"Makarov of Fairy Tail insisted that she will do well." Backenstall stated.

Shantire nodded, "Good."

"From Lord Shantire! Raven Tail Nullpudding and Sally Tempus! Naked Mummy Zato and Gato! Death Cloud Kizaiko and Titanro!

Those on Lord Backenstall's team peeked over at Fairy Tail, knowing full well not to get in between them and their target.

"Death Head Caucus Ikaruga and Itriamo! And Black Knight's Sabrorka and Sinel!"

All the participants were in the arena and were standing in a circle. "This match will be based off the match during the Grand Magic Games called Hidden!"

Gray scowled, remembering the match, it hadn't gone all that well for him.

"Hidden?" Cyrus whispered- since she had not watched the Grand Magic Games, or at least that's what Gray assumed.

"Imagine a huge hide-and-go-seek game." Gray whispered back.

"I see." Cyrus turned back, and frowned- thinking. Then she looked over at Gray and smirked, "I've always been good at playing hide-and-go-seek."

Gray smiled, "That's good to hear."

...FT...

Gray and Cyrus walked side by side as silently as they could. "Well at least they don't have those annoying clones." Gray muttered.

"Clones?" Cyrus peeked over.

"It was something to make the match even more annoying." Gray said.

Cyrus smirked, "That doesn't explain a lot- it doesn't take much to annoy you." She chuckled and looked around- they were in a town that sort of looked like Magnolia. "We should get started."

Gray nodded and peeked over at Cyrus, "Here we go- you sure this will work?"

"Doubting me Ice Mage?" Cyrus teased and looked up at the sky, so far Black Knight was in the lead. "We'll be fine. We get one point each time we hit someone and lose one point each time that we're hit right?"

"Yup."

Blue Pegasus was in last place with negative four points. With Fairy Tail and Death Cloud just ahead of them with zero points. Gray frowned, "Looks like Death Cloud is waiting for us."

"How nice of them." Cyrus said- the two mages grinned at each other.

"Now!"

Cyrus touched the ground, "Full Scale Nightmare!" She yelled and a dark pulse shot out from her.

Everything looked a little darker and the shadows moved if you weren't looking directly at them- just like a child's fear at night. Gray chuckled nervously, "Creepy as ever." He mumbled- looking around.

After a moment Cyrus stood up. "I found them." she said then peeked over at Gray, "Happy hunting."

Then they both disappeared into the shadows under their feet.

...FT...

The first thing Natsu noticed was a dull pain in his left shoulder. He kept his eyes closed for a moment- listening to the sounds around him, trying to figure out where he was.

Natsu resisted the urge to chuckle when he heard the familiar voice of Elfman say, "I gotta say, it's manly to have a television so those in the infirmary cat watch the match."

 _I'm in the infirmary? What the heck happened? I don't remember picking a fight on the last mission- at least not one that would knock me out. They were only bandits after all... Was it a match?_

 _Wait match?_

The memories came back to him a little more. _Oh yeah- that's right, we were in some weird town participating in these "games" for some Lord Brussel Sprouts- no that wasn't it, Bean Sprouts? Broccoli? Barbeque? Meat would sound really good right about now..._

 _Focus- what happened?_

"Except those in the infirmary need to be resting- not stressing themselves out over a pointless fight. This is exactly why I hate humans." Said the familiar grumpy voice of Porlyusica.

 _She does know that she's also a human right?_

"True." Carla said, "But I'm fairly sure that Natsu would be trying to rush out to watch the match if it wasn't here."

 _Yup._

"When he wakes up." Said the worried voice of Wendy.

 _I should wake up... how long have I been asleep anyways?_ A little voice in Natsu's head whispered. But his eyelids were so heavy and the throbbing in his shoulder where Dallas had struck him was annoying.

 _Wait- Dallas?_

The memories came back to him.

 _That's right- Death Cloud hurt Lucy- I was going to kick their ass for it. Did I lose? I remember that my magic was useless against him- anti-fire thingys... I used my Fire Lightning Dragon mode on him-_

 _I remember a bright flash of light..._

Some small amount of stubbornness made Natsu open his eyes- blinking several times as his eyes adjusted.

"He's awake!" Happy cried out and hugged his friend, sobbing. "You're alive!"

"Hey." Natsu whispered- his throat too dry to speak any louder, and moved his hand to comfort the crying Exceed.

"How are you feeling?" Wendy asked quietly.

"Sore." Natsu mumbled, looking at his left shoulder. Then he turned his head, facing Happy and continued to comfort his friend. "But I'm alright."

"You're lucky to be alive." Porlyusica said peeking back from whatever she was doing. "Your shoulder is going to need to heal on its own- we'll be able to help it a little with healing magic- but the damage is too severe for healing magic to get all of it."

Lucy looked over relief flooding her as she saw the Dragon Slayer's eyes open and he was talking.

Porlyusica had Natsu sit up and she shifted the pillow behind him so he was more upright.

Natsu had winced when he leaned a little too much on his left side. Both Lucy and the two medics took notice of this and Wendy started using Healing Magic on his injured shoulder again as Porlyusica brought over some pain killing medicine and had Natsu take some. Then she gave him some water, which he happily took.

 _Good to see that he's drinking water._ Porlyusica told herself. Then she started to interrogate Natsu to see if there was any other pain.

It didn't surprise her that there was still more damage besides his shoulder. There had been so many injuries by all right the Dragon Slayer should have been killed.

Natsu looked up at the TV screen, "So the next match has already started?"

"It's been going on for about an hour." Carla stated, "You've been asleep for almost a day." She said and Natsu nodded.

Natsu looked over, "Who's in it?"

"Gray, and your replacement for the match." Wendy whispered guiltily.

Natsu was quiet for a moment- slowly registering just how bad it was then he spoke, "Who's my replacement?"

Finally Happy spoke, "Cyrus is."

A look of shock crossed Natsu's face, "Cyrus?" He looked up at the TV, which was currently focused on a fight between Sabertooth and Death Head Caucus. "She's back?"

"Aye." Happy answered. "She said that she happened to be in town when she saw the fight-" Happy cut off, looking down at his friend's hand.

Natsu inwardly winced, remembering the fight. "So she saw that huh?" Natsu mumbled, then he looked back at the screen. "She's gonna be pissed."

"Aye." Happy agreed.

Suddenly the announcer shouted- scaring the daylights out of everybody in the room. "And Fairy Tail has made their move!"

Everybody focused on the screen as it switched to Gray clobbering a Death Cloud then immediately attacking with his Ice Hammer.

The man flew back and was about to disappear when the Death Cloud's shadow appeared behind him and struck him again.

The Death Cloud disappeared and Fairy Tail was up three points.

"Nice! Way to go Gray-san!" Wendy cheered.

"That's a man!" Elfman hollered- despite the TV not being able to let the Ice Mage hear his voice.

Natsu felt movement, he looked over and scooted over to let Lucy sit next to him.

Lucy sat down- being mindful of the Dragon Slayer's shoulder. "Mind if I sit with you?" She asked him.

Natsu grinned, "No problem Luce!" Causing a chain reaction of small smiles from everyone in the room.

The room shook from the cheering of the crowd outside- causing the Fairy Tail Mages to look up at the scene.

Gray and Cyrus had split up, but they were both being moved around by Cyrus's Shadow Walker magic.

Gray had struck Kizaiko and Cyrus had struck Titanro roughly about the same time. Both their opponents disappeared and they ran into the shadows- appearing and striking the opposite Death Cloud.

The crowd went wild and the room shook once again- making Natsu wonder exactly how close to the arena they were. In less than ten minutes Fairy Tail want from Zero to seven points.

Natsu blinked- he could feel Porlyusica's medicine kicking in- making him exhausted. He laid back and before he knew it he was slightly leaning on Lucy's shoulder- being mindful of his own- his eyes slipping closed as he drifted off.

Lucy peeked over and quietly moved her arm to hold onto the Fire Mage so he would be in more comfortable of a position as he slept. Then she looked back at the screen with a serious look in her eyes. "Go get them."

...FT...

Cyrus was easily able to find everyone with her shadow magic. She sighed and sent out a few of her shadows to tell the others where the Dark Guilds were hiding, then she stood up and looked around.

She could see through the shadows that Gray was wandering around waiting for her to make her move. _I need to keep us in the shadows as much as possible so other Dark Guilds don't attack us. Which means we need to keep moving. I can handle a few more hours of this._

He stepped into a shadow and Cyrus automatically transported him to where Titanro was and transported herself to where Kizaiko was.

They both struck and switched opponents, immediately attacking again.

Death Cloud couldn't even get a breath in before one of the two Fairy Tail mages came out of the shadows and attacked.

"We need to take out the Shadow Mage!" Titanro was able to yell before he was shot by Gray's Ice Make Cannon.

"Good luck with that." Gray said as the Dark Mage vanished, "That girl is on par with Erza when she's pissed."

Then he heard a scream and Kizaiko appeared in front of him, Gray smirked. "How nice of you to show up." the Ice Mage mused and attacked, "Ice Make Hammer!"

The hammer struck Kizaiko and he was smashed into the ground before disappearing once again and Gray ran into the shadows. Used to the weird feeling that he got before he was transported, and was glad that Cyrus didn't accidently forget about him and let him smash into the wall- that would have totally killed the moment.

Cyrus was able to find the Dark Mages instantly she frowned, _these guys may be able to communicate with each other over distance- if that's the case..._ She grinned, "This should be fun." Then she attacked.

At some point both Death Cloud Mages had appeared in the same place, which the Fairy Tail mages did as well.

"Shadow Spear!" Cyrus yelled and threw the attack at Kizaiko.

At the same time Gray attack Titanro, "Ice Make Cannon!"

Both attacks hit the Dark Mages at the same exact time and both Dark Mages vanished once again.

Gray and Cyrus passed by each other, high fiving each other as they passed. "Go get 'em!"

Then they both ran into the shadows and vanished.

...FT...

Orga whistled, watching the Fairy Tail points skyrocket. "Damn Fairy Tail." He chuckled, "Those are some angry fairies..."

Rouge watched silently- knowing full well how hard Fairy Tail fights for another. "Let Fairy Tail fight Death Cloud."

Orga chuckled, "Like I'm gonna get in their way- they're going nuts!" He peeked over, seeing the frown on Rouge's face. "What's up?"

"There's something I want to look into with Black Knight."

Orga frowned even deeper, "You mean that Kortorzi guy." Orga said. "If somebody was going to try and kill Fairy Tail's Salamander I would've thought that it'd be him. He did seem like he wanted to."

Rouge nodded. "Whatever is going on is a lot bigger then we can imagine."

...FT...

Makarov watched silently as Gray and Cyrus stole point after point from Death Cloud. Fighting with the fierce intensity that matched the Nakama that they fought so hard for.

He looked over at Death Cloud- there was ten of them total, including Dallas's replacement Gazumaki- a big guy wearing thick armor. He looked ready to take on Elfman in his Beast Soul form.

Dallas was nowhere in sight.

He looked back at the lacrima screen and raised his hand with his index finger and his thumb outstretched. He kept silent as he did so- looking ahead.

The others in Fairy Tail quickly followed suit.

...FT...

Lucy and the others in the infirmary also raised their hands. Porlyusica watched silently in amazement- speechless since this had been the second time she had seen this.

Lucy held the passed out Natsu a little tighter- being careful not to put pressure on his injured shoulder. - And kept her face straight as she watched the mages continue their heavy barrage of attacks.

 _We're all here for you._

...FT...

Gray had got the sudden urge that he could fight harder- despite being incredibly low on magic power. It was as if somebody was pushing him forward.

He doubled his speed- running forward toward Titanro, who stepped back in fear. "You're still not out of magic yet?"

"Not by a long shot you bastard!" Gray yelled and attacked, "Ice Make Cold Excalibur!"

He hit Titanro, and as his enemy disappeared he ran into a shadow and when he ran out he attacked Kizaiko, who had just been attacked by Cyrus.

Gray paused long enough to see Naked Mummy get their butts handed to them by Mermaid Heel. He smirked- remember overhearing a plot to get back at Naked Mummy.

Then he ran into a shadow again, just in time for Millianna to see him. "Nyah! Was that Fairy Tail?"

Arana Web peeked over, "Probably- let's just leave them be and be glad that they're not after us."

Gray ran out of the shadow again to meet Kizaiko once again, "You again asshole?" The Dark Mage yelled.

"You hurt my Nakama you scum!" Gray roared and gave Kizaiko a solid punch to the face. Then he swung his ice sword and struck the Dark Mage's chest. "Hell yes I'm back!"

The Death Cloud vanished and Gray stood tall. "And it won't be the last time you'll see of me. I still have one more hour of this..."

"Well look who it is!"

Gray was able to dodge the attack from Nullpudding, jumping high into the air. The Dark Mage looked up, "You've gotten better than last time. Good- this may be a bit more fun!" He laughed then froze- seeing the look of murder in Gray's eyes.

"Does it look like I'm in the mood for you?" Gray yelled and took Nullpudding out with a strong enough punch that it made a few wonder if he had Makarov's Titan strength in his fist. Then- ignoring the Raven Tail mage he ran into a shadow and the assault continued.

...FT...

The lacrima vision had split in two- one for the constant Fairy Tail assault on Death Cloud and the second half was to watch the other fights. Shantire chuckled as Gray landed another hit on a nearly unconscious Titanro.

Kizaiko had already passed out long ago- however he wasn't spared from their attack- mainly since Death Cloud had struck Natsu several times after he had already passed out. "You're right- this is a good fight."

Lord Backenstall peeked over at the amused Lord Shantire then back to the fight in the lacrima

The man in the white robes leaned back, "Color me impressed." He mumbled.

The smoking man next to him chuckled, "They are practically out of magic- however, their anger is acting as fuel for their magic." He peeked over, "Was this what you wanted?"

The man peeked back at Koroku standing in the doorway- who was silently watching the fight. "I am merely here so someone doesn't try to kill Death Cloud."

The smoking man chuckled. "Really now?" He breathed out, "If that's the case then where's Dallas?" He said with a smirk then looked back at Koroku, who had his hood up- covering red eyes.

...FT...

Gray kicked Kizaiko over to Titanro and looked over at Cyrus. "They're not going to be moving for a little while."

Cyrus nodded and sat down with an exhausted sigh. Both mages were completely wiped out and covered in sweat. She looked over at the Dark Mages and chuckled. "Well I feel a little better."

"Well I'm still plenty pissed off." Gray said and sat down. "So are we going to wait here?"

"None of the other mages are near us right now- the closest is Death Head Caucus, and let's just say they're retreating as fast as they possibly can." She said with a chuckle as she jutted a thumb towards the direction that the Dark Guild was. "I think we scared them."

Gray laughed, "Oh really?" He sat back. "I could use a nap."

"A shower would be perfect for me right about now." Cyrus answered.

Gray peeked an eye open, "Tell me something- where have you been for the past ten years? I heard that you didn't even show up during the seven year gap..."

Cyrus sighed and sat forward with a playful smile. "It's. A. Secret." She teased. "Besides- I don't need to be around to be a guild member." She said as she pointed to the purple Guild Mark below her collar bone on her chest. "I'm good as long as I've got this."

"We could have used you a few times you know..." Gray sighed.

Cyrus chuckled. "You guys did perfectly fine." She said and leaned back. "I'll be there when you really need me."

"Is that why you're here now?"

Cyrus peeked an eye open. "Something means one thing Gray Fullbuster. I happened to be in the area- that's all you need to know."

Gray sighed, "Are you going to at least wait until Flamebrain wakes up before you leave?" He asked.

"And have him try to pick a fight with me in his condition? No thank you." Cyrus said and they both sighed- both of them knowing that the Fire Mage might try.

They heard what sounded like a bell and all of a sudden they were back in the arena. The two of them sat up as the crowd cheered. "Already?" Gray asked and peeked over at Cyrus- who shrugged.

Like either of them was bothering to keep track of the time...

"What an amazing fight! In first place we have Fairy Tail with an amazing eighty seven points!"

Cyrus frowned, "We hit them eighty seven times?"

"Minus one." Gray said, "I hit Nullpudding once-"

"Well I also hit Zato once when I accidentally landed on him." Cyrus said while she looked up at the sky- thinking and looking innocent- which made the Fairy Tail mages chuckle.

The crowd went nuts and after a moment the announcer shouted, "In second place with twenty four points-"

Gray and Cyrus paled and looked at each other- _we went that overboard?_

"-Black Knight! Only one point behind them with twenty three points is Raven Tail. Fourth place with twenty one points is Sabertooth!"

The crowd went nuts once again, forcing the announcer to pause.

"Fifth place with fourteen points is Death Head Caucus, sixth with twelve points goes to Lamia Scale! With four points seventh place goes to Mermaid Heel! Eighth place with a negative seven points goes to Blue Pegasus! Ninth place is Naked Mummy with negative twenty one points! Finally in a deep hole with negative eighty five points is Death Cloud!"

Cyrus chuckled. "If we each hit one other person then that means that we hit them eighty five times!" She busted out into a laughing fit. "Those morons didn't even get one point!"

Gray sighed, _that's cause they were busy getting the crap beaten out of them by us-_

-moron.

...FT...

Gray walked into the infirmary and paused- seeing Natsu in a different position then when he left him. "Did he wake up?"

"For a bit." Lucy answered, "He was able to watch some of the match before he passed out again."

Gray walked up and looked down at the sleeping Dragon Slayer, knowing full well that he wouldn't fall asleep during a fight unless he was totally exhausted.

He gritted his teeth and checked his rival's breathing- just because, but was relieved to know that he was doing alright. "Get some rest you idiot."

This time Natsu mumbled something and his head moved. Gray was about to move when he barely heard Natsu's voice.

"Nice fight today."

Gray peeked back- seeing Natsu's eyes slowly open. He looked over at Gray and gave him a weak and tired smile- still obviously under Porlyusica's medicine. "You totally kicked ass."

"You're damn right I did." Gray said as he sat in the chair next to Natsu's bed, "You feeling better?"

"A little. Still pretty tired." Natsu answered quietly.

Gray looked at the cast on Natsu's shoulder- making his entire left arm unusable. "Is it still hurting?"

Natsu examined his shoulder as if he was looking for a mark. "Not really. Just heavy." He looked over, "Must be Porlyusica's medicine- and you know- the cast." He said and frowned at the cast.

Gray nodded, "Are you going to be able to use it?"

"He'll be fine." Porlyusica answered him as she walked in. "He just needs to let it rest- it's already healing amazingly fast."

Gray nodded, sighing. "That's good to hear." then he looked back at Natsu. "I thought Black Knight was going to attack you-"

"So did I."

Gray stared in shock at the Fire Dragon Slayer, "You knew that somebody was after you?"

Natsu hesitated then nodded, "Can I talk to Gray alone for a sec?" He asked the others.

The others slowly nodded, "We'll be outside." Lucy said and led the others out, slightly disappointed that Natsu felt that he couldn't tell the others what he was going to tell Gray.

But they left none the less.

Gray turned to Natsu once the door was closed, "What the hell is going?"

Natsu looked away, "You know when I told you in that alley that I had lost Zeref so nothing happened?"

Gray slowly nodded.

"Well- I lied, he spoke to me."

"What did he say?" He kept his voice calm- but inside, he was screaming at the idiot.

"He said that a Dark Guild wanted me dead."

Gray kept silent and let the Fire Mage continue, "He said that they knew something about me that I don't know."

Gray frowned, just by looking at the Dragon Slayer's face he could tell that something was bothering him.

"Idiot Flamebrain, you should have told me-" He sighed, forcing his anger down. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

Natsu shook his head.

"Then what's bothering you?"

Gray. I don't remember a thing from before Igneel found me. I didn't know anything, I didn't even know how to walk. Igneel taught me everything I know."

"So you're worried that this might be something from before you meet Igneel." Gray said, watching Natsu slowly nod in response.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gray asked quietly.

"I wanted to make sure-"

"YOU IDIOT!" Gray snapped, "If you had told me then maybe I could of-"

"Gray!" Natsu shouted as best he could back, "Zeref told me, I can't trust him- the last time he showed up Igneel died. For all I know this could be a trap-"

"And that's exactly why you should have told me." Gray snapped and looked away.

Natsu remained silent as Gray sighed and spoke quietly, "You idiot- Dallas could have killed you, he almost did."

"About that-" Gray glanced over at Natsu. "He didn't kill me- what happened?"

Gray frowned, "You don't remember?"

Natsu shook his head, "I remember Dallas hitting my shoulder and a bright flash of light... The next thing I knew I woke up here."

Gray remembered Natsu getting up, his red eyes, attacking, and walking out of the arena on his own. The next time he had seen the Dragon Slayer he was passed out on the ground, and Laxus was next to him.

"You got back up and kept fighting." Gray peeked over to Natsu to see the surprised look on his face, then he continued. "You fought and you won the match- burning all the magic out of him. You left the arena on your own."

Natsu frowned, "I don't remember any of this. So I won the point?"

"Both sides ended up getting a point because you were technically knocked out first." Gray said. Then he remembered how paranoid the Master had been before Natsu's match. He looked over at the Dragon Slayer, "Gramps? Does he know?"

"I told him," Natsu said, "Before the first round."

 _At least he told somebody-_

"But I don't get it- why would Zeref warn me that someone wanted to kill me? I don't imagine him as a worried, kind person-"

Gray frowned, Natsu was an idiot, but he was a sensible idiot (at times). Frankly, it was strange that the Black Wizard was so worried about Natsu...

He peeked over at Natsu- easily able to tell how exhausted the Fire Mage was, "Get some rest."

Natsu frowned then he slowly nodded and laid back down, Gray helping him so he didn't put any weight on his left side. "I'm gonna get you back for this once you're healed and this is over with- you better remember that." The Ice Mage said.

"Please- I'd kick your ass even with my arm still in a sling." Natsu said and closed his eyes- the medicine and his own exhaustion pulling him back into sleep.

"Not if you can't stay awake Ash-For-Brains idiot."

Somebody tapped Gray's shoulder, Gray turned around and stared at Lucy- and a very intimidating Erza.

"The Master has informed me on what is going on." She stated. "You chased after Natsu that day that he caught a familiar scent and jumped out of the carriage- you owe me an explanation on why you lied to me about something that important." She demanded- keeping her voice quiet, but still murderous.

Gray gulped and peeked back at the sleeping Natsu, suddenly seriously regretting the fact that he had told the Dragon Slayer to "get some rest."

 **.**

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 **.**

 **...FT...**

 **And Gray's in deep trouble with Erza... XD**

 **There's chapter ten- and it turned out longer than I planned it to be- hooray!**

 **But seriously- that fight scene was fun to write. XD**

 **I'll make sure to update soon!**

 **Feel free to review- but no flames Plz!**

' **Til next time!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Wow already chapter eleven...**

 **Sorry about the wait- recovering from jet lag- =(I did some last minute modifications on this so let me know if there are any typos-**

 **Anyway thanks for the reviews from-**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Guest**

 **-Enjali**

 **-Luna Dragneel-Demon Princess**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-BigChillFreak**

 **Feel free to keep reviewing! It's always a lot of fun looking through them!**

 **I haven't got a single one which I'm** _ **really**_ **glad for- but no Flames plz!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **...FT...**

Erza clenched her fists doing everything she could not to slap the sleeping Dragon Slayer as Gray told both stories. "That idiot!" Then she punched Gray, "You're both idiots!"

Gray remained silent and hoped that she didn't punch Natsu and make his condition even worse than it already was.

Erza glared over at Natsu- then her face softened and Gray sighed in relief. The Flamebrain already had one close call with death- a punch from the might Erza wouldn't be something his beaten up body could take at the moment.

Luckily it seemed the redhead knew this.

"Wait- so Natsu really doesn't remember anything before Igneel?" Lucy asked- mildly surprised, this had been the first time she had heard it. Then again Natsu never did mention his life before Igneel-

"Nothing." Happy answered, sitting next to his sleeping friend's head. "I asked him about it a little while ago and he told me that he was a blank slate when he woke up." He said and shifted uncomfortably, "I never really pushed him on it- it just sounds too weird..."

Lucy nodded- that did sound weird. Trying to imagine a Natsu that didn't even know how to walk- what about talking? She could never imagine the Dragon Slayer unable to talk. Natsu was an idiot- but he knew nothing-

Natsu stirred in his sleep, startling them- they watched him for a moment, but didn't wake up.

All the others in the room kept quiet for a moment longer in order to make sure that the Dragon Slayer got the rest the Porlyusica said he needed. When he showed no signs of waking up they continued- keeping their voices quiet.

Erza peeked over at Natsu- keeping her voice hushed, "If it's something before Igneel than it could be anything."

Gray frowned, "But he was what? Five? Six? When Igneel found him, how serious of trouble can a kid get into- that would make people want to kill him a decade later?" He pointed out.

The others quietly nodded, but didn't dismiss the idea, mainly because he was Natsu Dragneel, and trouble normally did come to him. That's if he wasn't the one to go out looking for it first...

Erza sighed after a moment- she knew of several people that would want Natsu dead- but from before Igneel? She hadn't even considered what had happened before Igneel- even though it was odd that Natsu happened to be found in the forest by a dragon- leaving many loose ends untied. She wandered over to the window, "We should all get some rest- we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Then she sat down in a chair and fell asleep.

Lucy sweat dropped at how fast the redheaded mage could fall asleep. "I guess it's okay if we sleep in here." She said with a sigh.

Gray nodded and took the bed closest to the door just in case- knowing full well that he wouldn't fall into a deep sleep.

Lucy quietly crawled into the bed next to Natsu- cuddling Happy close as she snuggled under the blankets and closed her eyes to fall asleep.

...FT...

The crowd cheered loudly as the sixth round was about to be called. "The next several rounds will be one match per day with a special landscape!" The announcer yelled.

Gajeel frowned, "Didn't we already do that the first round?"

"I'd imagine that it would be slightly different." Erza said and the Iron Dragon Slayer sighed.

"I hope so."

"Today's match will be in the sky!"

Everybody looked up, which the Dragon Slayers immediately regretted- as they got sick upon sight of the huge course of nets and rope bridges.

"How the hell did we not notice that?" Gray said while looking up.

Behind him- Gajeel was greener than Freed's hair, "I hope I'm not in this match." He mumbled.

"Now for the contestants in today's match, Fairy Tail's Laxus Dreyar!"

Laxus scowled- looking up at the nets, this wasn't going to be easy.

"Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear!"

"Seriously- did they only pick big people, they're going to have a hell of a time on those tiny ropes." Sherria mumbled.

"Blue Pegasus Hibiki Lates! Lamia Scale Yuka Suzuki! And Mermaid Heel's lovely Kagrua MikaZuchi!"

The crowd cheered and the other Dragon Slayers breathed out in relief- for it wasn't them.

"To get out in this match you have to get knocked out or knocked off- you have fifty minutes!"

...FT...

Laxus was able to get a rope bridge to stand on, he peeked over at Orga- who wasn't nearly as lucky. Then the announcer yelled and the match began.

Electricity flickered around Laxus, "What do you normally say Natsu?" he asked himself- eyeing Dallas's replacement, Gazumaki. "I'm all fired up."

The other Dark Guild members in the match were Kurohebi, Morun, Vidalos, and Timiatu.

Most of them were smaller than Laxus- giving them more of an advantage on this field- it helped them since they weren't Dragon Slayers.

Kurohebi moved to attack Hibiki and was immediately hit aside by Kagrua- who looked like she wasn't in the mood to deal with the idiocy of others- not like she ever was...

Kurohebi was thrown too far to the side and he fell- crashing into the ground. "What a weakling." Laxus spun around, seeing Death Cloud' Gazumaki standing behind him. "Wouldn't you agree?" But he didn't let him answer before he attacked, a black broad sword appearing in his hand.

Laxus used his lightning to get out of the way, but making sure that he stayed on the rope bridge- knowing full well that he would have a hell of a time staying up anywhere else, AND, his Dragon Slayer motion sickness was not helping.

Not that he was ever going to admit that he was feeling slightly nauseous.

"You're a Requip Mage."

"And you're a Dragon Slayer." Gazumaki said, "I must say I am impressed- you're a Dragon Slayer, and this thing is swaying. Any of the others would have jumped off by now-"

 _Or if they were an idiot like Natsu they'd push themselves and try and fight despite this._ Laxus found himself thinking- _wait that's what I'm doing right now..._

 _Crap._

"-Speaking of others- how is the pink haired kid doing?"

Laxus glared at the man.

"He really did take a beating from Dallas, I'm surprised that he's still alive. And disappointed- that's much more than that boy deserves." Gazumaki sneered at Laxus, "Wouldn't you say?"

Laxus was silent for a moment- taking it in, _is this guy trying to piss me off- if he is then-_ "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't be fooled Fairy- you have no idea what that boy is-"

"And I don't give a damn." Laxus cut in, "We've all got skeletons in our closets. The point is- the kid's a pain in the ass, but he is one of us, and we don't put up with others harassing one of our own."

Lightning crackled and Laxus shot forward leaving a good punch to Gazumaki's stomach - throwing him back then he inhaled, "Lightning Dragon's Roar!" he roared.

Gazumaki merely chuckled and jumped out of the way before getting hit, he managed to catch himself and pull himself back onto the bridge and ran at Laxus- swinging his sword, and catching the rope holding them up. Both of them fell several feet before there bridge was caught in more ropes and the fight continued.

Laxus barely managed to dodge another attack and he cursed- _this arena was hard to move in._ Luckily for him- it seemed that Gazumaki was also having a hard time- he was the same size as he was.

Then Gazumaki attacked again, this time punching Laxus's ribs before swinging his sword- catching the Lightning Dragon Slayer's cheek and Laxus moved back even more.

Gazumaki stepped forward and his foot slipped through the rope- Laxus took advantage of the stumble and attacked electrifying his punch and punched Gazumaki across the face- stunning him as he continued his relentless assault before stepping back and taking another deep breath. "Lightning Dragon's Roar!" He yelled and attacked.

Gazumaki had no time to react before he was engulfed by a beam of lightning- and the crowd lost sight of the Death Cloud. Until after a moment the attack faded and Gazumaki fell to the ground- twitching and covered in burns from head to toe.

Laxus scowled watching Gazumaki hit the ground. "- if you were trying to piss me off then it worked." He said as Gazumaki was out.

Laxus looked over the edge, "Tell your Master that if everybody is as powerful as you then you shouldn't have bothered to come..." Laxus said then looked over at the others- who were still fighting. "Because we'll wipe the floor with you fools."

Suddenly Marun was knocked to the ground by Orga who was yelling, "Is that all you Dark Mages can do? Come on! I'm starting to getting bored!"

Only a second after Hibiki was kicked out by Timiatu. Surprisingly Yuka was able to knock out Vidalos without too much effort then was trying to help Orga fight off Timiatu- despite the Sabertooth not wanting the help.

Then the timer went off- surprising Laxus, that hadn't felt like fifty minutes.

"And Lord Backenstall gets a point!"

...FT...

Laxus sighed and looked over at Gazumaki- who was still lying on the ground. He frowned and turned away, stopping in his tracks when he heard Gazumaki snicker.

The Dark Mage must've known that Laxus could hear him because he looked directly over at him. "Even if you somehow manage to beat us this still won't be over-" He chuckled. "That boy is going to die."

Laxus walked up and glared down at the man, "You better hope he doesn't- if that kid dies then you and your guild will be the ones to suffer Fairy Tail's wrath over and over again." Then he turned away and left.

...FT...

Natsu peeked over at Gray, "I didn't realize that _I_ needed a babysitter." He growled.

"Don't be an idiot Flamebrain." Gray snapped, "Death Cloud wants you dead. I seriously doubt that will be their only attempt to kill you." Gray stood up, "They'll be back."

"Unfortunately I must agree with that."

Natsu and Gray looked over, seeing Makarov standing in the doorway, "Gramps."

"Good to see that you're sitting up Natsu." Makarov approached the Fire Dragon Slayer. "How are you feeling my boy?"

"I'm fine. Porlyusica said that I should be able to move around by tomorrow."

"Yes, but I don't want him in any fights tomorrow." The medic said as she walked into the room. "We were able to heal any life threatening wounds- however his body is still exhausted, not to mention his shoulder. If he were in a fight he wouldn't last long."

"No way I'd-" Natsu started to argue but stopped and frowned at his shoulder sling- his body was tired. "But I can still move around tomorrow?"

"Yes you'll be able to."

Natsu sighed, "That's better than nothing."

"Gramps." Gray spoke up. "I know that Death Cloud is after Natsu, but I feel like we need to keep an eye out on Black Knight."

Makarov looked over at the Ice Mage, "Yes I can see that this has been bothering you for a little while-"

Natsu looked over at Gray, "Black Knight?"

Gray nodded then turned back to the Master, "Kirum Kortorzi admitted to me that he wants Natsu dead."

"And let's not forget Ivan's actions." A new voice pointed out, they turned- seeing and unexpected figure standing in the doorway.

"Lyon."

Lyon glared at Gray then turned to Makarov and spoke, "I've been thinking about what Ivan did in the second round." He looked over at Natsu, "Remember when my Ice Ape had to throw you out of the way of Ivan's weird attack?"

Natsu slowly nodded.

"Well if that attack had landed you would have been seriously injured, if not killed." Lyon said, "That wasn't fire based."

"Death Cloud, Black Knight- and Raven Tail." Makarov muttered staring out the window- _there is something a lot bigger going on here- but what is it?_

...FT...

Later on that night Lucy stepped up to the Master. "Master?"

Makarov looked over at the blonde, "What is my child?"

Lucy looked at the ground then nodded as if to reassure herself then she looked back up at the Master, "I would like to participate in the games once again."

Makarov turned, "I'm aware that Porlyusica has released you- however are you sure that you're ready to be back in the field my child?"

Lucy nodded, "I need to. Natsu has always been there to protect me. Now he needs help and I want to help him."

"You do realize that there are other ways-"

"I do, but I need to do this." She looked back up, "For him and for me."

Makarov smiled.

...FT...

Lucy had just left when the Master had heard a knock in the doorway- he peeked back at Jura, who stood in the doorway. He frowned as the Earth Mage spoke up, "You need to come see this."

The Master nodded and quietly followed Jura out of the Fairy Tail housing and down the street, after a moment Jura spoke up, "How is Natsu-dono?"

"He's healing faster than expected." Makarov said as he continued to follow the taller man to a back alley- in the dim light the Guild Master could make out a faint shape on the ground. Jura turned on a lacrima flashlight and the old man somehow kept his face straight at the sight of Dallas's dead corpse.

The two of them walked up as Jura spoke, "Looks like he was in a fight." Jura pointed out and Makarov nodded- eyeing the cuts on the ex-Death Cloud's body- made by a sword he guessed. He frowned, noticing that none of them were enough to kill- yet the mage was dead.

"Somebody managed to fight and kill a mage." Makarov said, "Most likely another mage- and a powerful one." Jura peeked over, "None of the wounds that we can see are enough to kill someone."

"Magic?" Jura asked.

"Most likely."

Jura frowned, "Dallas wasn't seen since his fight with Natsu- Dark Guilds are infamous for getting rid of those deemed weak- do you think this was the case?"

Makarov was silent for a moment then spoke up, "What do we know about the Death Cloud's Guild Master?"

"Nothing." Jura said and sighed, "Just like the rest of the guild."

Makarov frowned- _just like everything so far-_

...FT...

The next day Natsu was able to leave the infirmary under strict orders of no fighting, not even a fist fight. "So it's been one fight per day?" Natsu asked frowning- whether it was because of the fact that he was thinking- a rarity- or that he wasn't allowed to fight for the time being- no one was too sure of.

"Yup." Lucy peeked over, "They have activities going on afterwards."

Natsu looked down at the fighting rink that seemed to magically repair itself after each fight- and managed to suppress a shiver run down his spine- kinda hard not to have one when you nearly died in that spot a few days ago. "So they're making a big deal off these games."

Lucy looked at Natsu with a worried look in her eyes, "Natsu?"

Natsu shook his head and smiled over at her, "Nothing."

"The next match is about to begin." Erza walked up and set up a chair. "I want you to sit down Natsu. Porlyusica might have said that it's okay for you to be up- but I'm not comfortable with it." Natsu wanted to object but was met with the mighty Erza's fierce glare, "Sit."

"Yes mam." Natsu quickly sat down, not admitting out loud that sitting down felt good. It helped his tired body rest.

"And anyway today's fight is supposedly on lacrima vision," Erza pointed out, "So you won't have any problems watching it from here."

"Yes mam."

Gray walked up, "I also heard that all the participants in today's match are already there."

Natsu quickly looked around- _so then- whose missing?_

Laxus had decided to let Lucy take her spot back- saying that there was something else that he'd rather be doing- and that he got his punch in.

 _Erza, Gray, Lucy, himself-_

 _Oh, Gajeel._

...FT...

Gajeel scowled looking down, they seemed to be in a deep mine underground.

"There's one good thing about this setting-" Gajeel said to no one in particular, looking around. "There's plenty of iron to work off of."

"You must be Fairy Tail's Gajeel Redfox."

Gajeel peeked back just in time to dodge a gust of air that sliced a mining cart behind him in half with no problem. Gajeel landed a few feet back then stood tall- taking a good look at the attacker.

It was a middle aged man with blonde hair and lime green eyes wearing black clothing and a red cape- on the man's neck was the symbol of Death Cloud, "After, what's his name? Oh- right, Laxus defeated Gazumaki our Master decided that he wasn't strong enough so he replaced him with me." He bowed, "My name is Aranuami, don't take it too personal when I kill you."

"And here I though Salamander was your only target." Gajeel said as he turned his fist into an iron club, "Pass this onto your bastard boss. I hope you brought enough replacements, there's five rounds left, and we're going to make sure you replace someone every time!"

Aranuami ran forward, "Time to die Fairy Tail!"

Gajeel smirked, "Nice try." He jumped into the air, "Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel yelled and attacked- slamming his club into the enemy and throwing him off the ledge. "And I'm not even close to being done yet!" Gajeel yelled as he jumped off the ledge after him.

...FT...

Natsu sat back watching Minerva take out Kizaiko, which he was glad to see- remembering back on the second round. Subconsciously Natsu's hand moved and touched his ear as if he could still hear the ringing.

Gray noticed this and he looked over, "You okay?"

"Hmm?" Natsu realized what he was doing and stopped, "Yeah I'm fine." He said and frowned- noticing that his shoulder was starting to cramp up, along with the rest of his body. He stood up and stretched- which helped a little bit, except for his shoulder. Then he walked forward and down at the arena floor, which was currently covered in games for little kids since the fight was being held somewhere else.

Probably a good thing- Mages can be incredibly destructive, having them fight directly underneath your city? Not such a good idea.

It felt good standing up, luckily Erza wasn't around- something about strawberry cake- so he had the chance to stretch his legs.

"You sure you should be up?" Lucy asked quietly.

Natsu nodded, "Yeah I need to stand for a bit, I've got too much energy to be sitting around doing nothing."

"That's good to hear."

The three of them spun around and stared in shock at an older man standing behind them. There was nothing calming about this man, making them feel as if they were standing before Master Hades once again. He wore all black- including his cape, and on his forehead- just above his right eye was the Death Cloud symbol.

Gray immediately stepped in front of Natsu and Lucy pulled out the lion's key, summoning Loki- who was also ready for battle.

Everything seemed to be frozen still for the mages-as none of them heard Sherria and Risley being taken out by Mourn over the lacrima. It was just the four Fairy Tail mages and the Death Cloud.

"Who the hell are you?" Gray snapped, he was positioned and ready to go for an attack- the Demon Slayer tattoo already on his arm- not taking any chances.

"I am the Death Cloud Guild Master." He said, causing the Fairy Tail mages to flinch. "You can settle down I am under strict orders not to kill the boy unless he is in the arena."

"Then why are you here?" Loki piped up- not buying it, nobody did it seemed- seeing how not a single one of them even relaxed a hair. _Who would be able to order around a Guild Master anyway?_

"I just came to confirm some things- Dragneel?"

Natsu frowned and tensed up, "What?" He snapped.

The Guild Master smirked at Natsu's tone as if it amused him, "I hear you were raised by a Dragon?"

"And what does that have to do with this?" Natsu growled.

"How much do you remember before that dragon?"

Natsu was silent and after a moment the Guild Master nodded and smirked- turning away, "Then it's just as I thought." He said and started walking away.

"Hold it-" Natsu stepped forward, pushing Gray and Loki to the side. The Death Cloud Guild Master stopped- but didn't look back. "Somebody warned me that one of you Dark Guilds wanted me dead. Something about you knowing something about me that I don't-" The Guild Master peeked back but allowed Natsu to continue speaking, "So is this something before Igneel?"

"Supposedly."

"So then what is it?"

The Guild Master laughed- startling the Fairy Tail Mages, then he finally turned back. "You really are a curious one aren't you?" He laughed, then straightened himself out. "To be honest I have no idea."

The Fairy Tail Mages were silent- as it slowly sunk in. Gray was the one to finally speak up- stepping in front of Natsu. "You expect us to believe that load of crap!" He yelled, pointing at the older man, "You expect us to believe that you're targeting Natsu for something you know but you don't know! That doesn't make any sense!"

"Unless-" Lucy whispered, "You're being paid off."

The Guild Master turned and walked away, "This should be interesting to see how long you stay alive Natsu Dragneel." The old man said with a little wave.

Once he was out of sight Loki relaxed, "He didn't deny it." Loki whispered- despite the three other mages being the only one in listening distance, "And he did say that he was under orders."

"Great this is getting even more confusing." Gray growled.

"But who would pay off a Dark Guild to kill off Natsu?" Lucy asked- _Most of Natsu's enemies would just do it by themselves-_

Surprisingly enough, Natsu was the one to answer her, "Who was the one that requested the Dark Guilds to come here in the first place?"

The four of them looked up- above the majority of the audience, to where the two Lords were sitting. "Shantire." Gray whispered- glaring at the seats.

"What the hell are you doing up?" Erza snapped- seeing Natsu standing up, "I thought I told you-" She stopped- realizing that she wasn't getting any reaction off of them.

She frowned, "What's wrong?" Erza asked, "Did something happen while I was gone?"

Lucy finally turned back, "This just got a whole lot bigger than we thought."

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **...FT...**

 **Chapter Eleven is up!**

 **I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Feel free to review- but no flames plz!**

' **Til next time!**


	13. Chapter 12

**... Already chapter twelve- damn, I need to get a life. (insert long pause here- along with drunk neighbor screaming outside) Nah- scratch that, I'm good.**

 **Thanks for the reviews from**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Enjali**

 **(BTW- I just realized that I've been spelling your name wrong this whole time... I'm really sorry =()**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-BigChillFreak**

 **-Ncaks**

 **-An Insane Fan**

 **-Bacira99**

 **-Guest**

 **(x3 so would that be guests? Sorry I had English today… couldn't help it.)**

 **As for the point that An Insane Fan made I looked into it and found some other sources that say the same exact thing- but I don't really remember that from the Manga- or Anime, but it's alright- because my plot will work with or without it. That is pretty interesting though-**

 **Feel free to review!**

 **But no Flames please!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail- if I did I put coal in every persons that write it as Fairy Tale's stockings =)**

 **All rights go to Hiro Mashima!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **...FT...**

Gajeel dodged another attack by millimeter then sucked in air, "Iron Dragon's Roar!" he yelled and attacked.

 _How long has this been going on?_

The match was only fifty minutes, but Gajeel felt like he had been fighting for hours- days maybe- but that may be a bit of an exaggeration.

Over to his right Black Steeled caught a glimpse of Ren taking out Naked Mummy's Gato. Making Gajeel scowl and look back just in time to dodge another attack.

 _We must be running out of time..._ Gajeel got a weird look in his eyes as he glared at Death Cloud. _No way in hell is Blue Pegasus going to take out an enemy while I'm stuck in a draw!_

Shadows started to accumulate around Gajeel, "Iron Shadow Dragon Mode." Gajeel growled and Aranuami took a step back from the Dragon Slayer's new form. Gajeel grinned at the Death Cloud then inhaled, "Iron Shadow Dragon's Roar!"

He was in a mine- plenty of iron, plenty of shadows.

The attack struck and Gajeel gave the Death Cloud no time to react before he struck again, "Iron Shadow Dragon's Club!" He struck and dragged the Death Cloud all over the mine laughing his ass off as the Death Cloud smashed into the ground, walls, ceiling, mining carts, and anything else that happened to be nearby. Making anybody who didn't know him wonder whether he had lost his mind or not, and reminding those who knew him that he had lost it a long time ago.

Then Gajeel slammed the Death Cloud into a mining cart that flipped over on top of him and Aranuami was out.

And a second later the timer went off.

The entire city shook from Gajeel's yell, "That was way too goddamn close!"

...FT...

Makarov raised an eyebrow, "Death Cloud is being paid to kill off Natsu?"

Erza nodded, the team participating in the game stood off to the side with the Master- along with Mira and Wendy. "So it would seem- the Death Cloud Guild Master approached them and spoke to them."

"We even confronted him about it and he didn't deny it." Lucy said and Wendy peeked over at Natsu with worried eyes- who was standing with a straight face.

Then Gray spoke up, "Normally Dark Guilds are pretty proud about whatever they do- they wouldn't sneak around like this- especially a Master." He said and the Master nodded.

Gajeel frowned, "It's gotta be Shantire that paid them off. He was the one that requested the Dark Guilds here in the first place."

Gray nodded, "That's what we were thinking."

Mira looked over at the Master worryingly, "Do you think we should warn Lord Backenstall about this?"

"No." Makarov said quickly, frowning at the ground. "If what we suspect is true then Lord Backenstall is just as guilty."

"Sir?" Erza asked.

Natsu frowned, still looking at the same spot on the wall but listened in even more.

"According to Lord Backenstall's story when we arrived he was the one that came up with the idea of the games." The Master said, "It could be that Shantire just took advantage of the situation- but I want to be safe- there are too many loose ends."

"It also seems like the only safe option- since they are under orders not to attack Natsu outside the arena- would be to pull Natsu from the games." Erza stated.

Suddenly the wall Natsu was staring at was no longer interesting and he jumped, "What! No way in hell-"

Gray snapped back, "This isn't time for one of your stubborn moments Flamebrain! If you are in the arena they can kill you-"

"And if Shantire really wants me dead the moment you pull me out he'll allow them to attack me outside the arena- getting civilians involved!" Natsu snapped back.

Makarov sighed- drawing the attention back to him. "This time I'm going to have to agree with Natsu. So far they have only involved wizards capable of defending themselves, we cannot allow this to exit the arena." Then the Guild Master stood up, "However, if they make any move to harm any of my children again, we take them out."

Everybody nodded.

...FT...

Natsu sighed, "Only my luck." He mumbled- staring at the platform, "First day I can fight I'm in a match." He frowned.

 _However, if Lord Shantire is after me, this wouldn't be just bad luck._ He sighed and shifted on his feet, pretending to look bored for anybody that was watching. _If I remember right, Shantire asked for me in the match after I was almost killed by Dallas, even though I was in pretty bad shape-_ he rubbed his shoulder with a frown, _they'll probably pull something this round too- I'll have to stay alert._

"Get up on the platform, you're up in thirty seconds." A voice said behind him.

Natsu nodded, "Kay." Then he stepped onto the platform and waited. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and Natsu looked around, seeing nothing but walls. He quietly walked down the hall and was immediately three different paths.

He peeked back, "It's a maze?"

...FT...

Sting ran as fast as he could, picking up any scent that he could find. "Gotta find Natsu-san."

He had been walking to the platform when his Dragon Slayer hearing picked up on two voices through a cracked open door.

"I will be placing Natsu Dragneel nearby you. Two rights and a left. Don't give him a chance to call for help, kill him quickly. I've also placed a spell on you that will hide your scent from a Dragon Slayers nose."

So now Sting was running, searching for Natsu's scent.

Suddenly he caught Natsu's scent and he sped up- speeding around a corner- he was close by.

Then he froze, smelling blood- and Natsu's scent was gone.

"Natsu-san!"

...FT...

Natsu chose to go right and was walking at a calm pace, keeping his nose on a lookout- but there were no scents nearby.

Natsu turned a corner and walked straight into Ivan Dreyar, "Well it wasn't that hard to find you Salamander." Ivan sneered, stepping forward.

 _What? Why didn't I smell him?_

Then he quickly dodged a spell and turned- running around the corner, only to slam into another Ivan. "What the hell!" Natsu yelled as he was thrown into a wall. Natsu quickly stood up, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He yelled and punched one of the Ivans back. As soon as that Ivan hit the wall he disappeared.

 _Crap, that was an illusion!_

Before he could react Ivan grabbed Natsu's left arm and twisted it behind his back- forcing him to his knees.

"Don't take this too personal." Ivan said- yet didn't sound too remorseful, and Natsu scened magic growing behind his head. "Once I do this I'll have enough money to restore Raven Tail to it's full glory."

"I won't." Natsu spoke quietly, "And don't take it too personally when things don't go well for you."

"Hmm?"

Suddenly Natsu punched the ground with his fiery fist, sending debris everywhere and denting the ground just enough to make Ivan stumble. "Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu yelled as he kicked him. Ivan was thrown back and Natsu ran, clutching his shoulder as a searing pain spiked through his shoulder.

 _What was that just now?_ Natsu looked at his shoulder, but didn't see any open wounds. He frowned as he thought back on what Porlyusica had said earlier when she took the cast off. _"It's still tender- so don't be too rough on it."_ Natsu cursed and sped up a little more.

The next few moments were all a blur to Natsu. He turned around a corner, running into another Ivan.

Somebody grabbed Natsu from behind, pulling him back and out of the way of Ivan's attack.

Natsu was spun around, he smelt the familiar copper smell of blood and disappeared.

...FT...

Makarov stared in shock at the screen as Ivan yelled and cursed at the knife stabbed through his hand.

"What just happened?" Macao asked.

Wakaba nearly dropped his smoke.

"What was that?" The announcer called out- which was unneeded, since everybody was wondering the same exact thing.

Makarov peeked up at Lord Shantire and was relieved to see the look of shock on Shantire's face. Then he peeked over at Lord Backenstall and frowned- seeing a frustrated look on his face.

"Our people are trying to find Natsu Dragneel." The announcer shouted. "In the meantime watch a slowed down version of what just happened."

Makarov watched as a cloaked man came out of nowhere and grabbed Natsu by the scarf, pulling him out of the way of Ivan's attack. Then he spun Natsu around, using his own body as a shield between Natsu and Ivan.

Ivan's second attack struck the man, but the man gaveno matter to it and threw a knife in response- the knife in Ivan's hand. Then both he and Natsu disappeared.

Makarov remained silent- but he recognized the man- it was the same man who had spoken to him just before Lucy was attacked by Death Cloud.

...FT...

Natsu crashed into the ground and looked up to see a cloaked man, Natsu immediately recognized the man from the bathroom, "It's you!"

"I can't stay long; the cameras will find you soon." The man said and knelt down, checking his shoulder. "Looks like you've strained it- nothing's broken." He said and pressed his hand on it with a soft glow and after a sharp pain Natsu's shoulder felt better.

The man stood up and looked around then nodded, "You should be safe here. Stay here, one of your allies will find you soon."

Natsu stood up and grabbed the man's sleeve, "Wait a sec."

The man looked back, "We do not have time for this Natsu."

"But who are you?" Natsu cut in and tightened his grip on the man's sleeve. The man hesitated then sighed before waving his hand in front of Natsu's face, and suddenly Natsu became very lightheaded and his knees gave out on him.

The man managed to catch him before he face planted. "I cannot answer that." Natsu heard the man say and lay him down on the ground.

 _What was-_ Natsu wasn't even able to finish his thought before he slipped into darkness.

...FT...

"-Dono?"

Natsu's eyes felt heavy and he groaned as he felt someone shake him, "Natsu-dono, are you alright?"

Then everything came back to him and Natsu bolted upright- startling Jura, who was kneeling next to him. Natsu looked around, _did that man leave?_

"Natsu-dono?"

Natsu looked over at a very confused Jura, "Jura."

Jura nodded, "There are bruises on you, are you alright?"

"I'm alright."

"Jura-san!" Sting ran up and noticed Natsu, "Natsu-san are you alright?"

Natsu slowly nodded, "I'm alright- just a little confused."

"What happened? Your scent was in the opposite direction, I smelled blood-"

"Settle down Sting, I'm fine. Ivan attacked me, I'm not really sure what happened afterwards though."

"I found you unconscious." Jura pointed out, "Are you sure that you're alright?"

Natsu nodded once again, "Yeah- somebody helped me out." He said then looked around, "But he's gone now."

Jura looked up at Sting then back to Natsu, "Who helped you?"

"I don't know."

"Are you sure that you're alright?"

"I'm fine."

Sting frowned, "On the way here I noticed that Mermaid Heel was out. I also took out Naked Mummy and Black Knight."

"Good to hear." Jura said, "That leaves Ivan, Pantos, and Ikaruga." He turned to Natsu, "Do you think you can walk Natsu-dono?"

Natsu nodded, "Yeah I'm good to go." Then he stood up, "Who else is on our side?"

"Ichiya."

"Men!"

Natsu sighed, "Well at least we don't have to hunt him down."

"I am glad to find you three, men!" Ichiya got into one of his weird poses. "May I suggest that the four of us stick together?" He switched poses. "With the four of us together the enemy would be a fool to attack us-" Another switch, "-Not to mention that Natsu-san would be safer under the three of our's protection."

"Hold on a sec, I don't-"

"I'm going to have to agree with Ichiya-dono," Jura spoke up, "Your Master has informed us of your situation and asked us to stay with you during the match."

Natsu frowned, "Fine." Then he caught a fifth scent, "But we should be ready."

Sting nodded, catching the scent as well. "Looks like a fool has come."

A spike came out of the shadows, aimed at Natsu. Jura was quickly able to drag him out of the way then he created a wall to block the other spikes. "Are you hurt Natsu-dono?"

"I get hurt once and you people freak out over everything." Natsu mumbled. He stepped around the wall, sucking in air. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" A huge wave of fire swept down the hall, Pantos cried out and he was out of the match.

Natsu smirked, "See that wasn't too hard-"

"White Dragon's Roar!"

A beam of light shot past Natsu's head- startling him and took out Ikaruga, who had been moving to attack Natsu from behind. Natsu turned to Sting as the White Dragon Slayer smirked.

"Yeah, not hard at all."

Natsu scowled, "Yeah, well whatever- there's only one more of them left!" He snapped then looked away, "And I think I have an idea."

"You thinking? Should I be worried?"

...FT...

Gray stood on the edge looking at the screen, "Does anybody know who that guy was?" He asked.

"No clue." Lucy answered, "But he saved Natsu- does that mean that he's on our side?" She asked.

"For now." Gajeel said and sat back, somehow he was able to talk with a mouthful of iron, "Something tells me that we're going to be seeing more of that guy." He said as he swallowed. "Can't say if it's a good thing or a bad thing."

"For now let's just say that he's good." Erza said, "If he does anything to hurt our Nakama though then he'll be an enemy and we'll deal with him just like all the rest."

...FT...

"Men!" Ichiya yelled, "Thunder Parfume!"

Ivan moved to dodge the lightning and ran at Natsu, who was standing still facing him, and had been separated from the others in the fight.

Ivan should have known that something was wrong as soon as the smirk crossed Natsu's face, but it was too late. Two wall shot up immobilizing Ivan, and Sting appeared behind him, "White Dragon's-"

Natsu took his stance and ran forward, "Flames of my right hand and the flames of my left, put the two together and you get-"

"Holy Nova!" Sting attacked from behind.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Natsu yelled and attacked-

The two attacks collided in a huge explosion and Ivan was out.

"Heh, I told you that would work."

"Your Master's gonna kill me." Sting said with a sigh.

Jura smiled softly, "Well done you two."

"Men!" Ichiya yelled and took a weird pose, "I helped too!"

Natsu sighed and sat down, causing Sting to look over and frown worryingly, "Are you alright Natsu-san?"

"For the last time I'm fine- just a little tired."

Jura knelt down next to him, "You must have pushed yourself too hard- you are not fully recovered from your fight with the Death Cloud." He said.

Natsu shook his head, "No I'm fine." He said, "And besides, now I have two days to rest before my next fight. I'll be fine." He frowned at his legs- they were so tired. He bowed his head- trying to shield his face. "Although- I could use some help standing up."

...FT...

Macao smirked as the rest of his guildmates laughed, "Go figure." Macao said, "After the tirade that he's perfectly fine, he can't even stand up. Typical Natsu."

Wakaba snickered, "Yeah- that's our Natsu."

Makarov peeked up at Lord Shantire, pleased to see how furious he was.

 _Hadn't been expecting an outside party to help did you?_ He looked away, in fact- neither had he- then he frowned as he remembered the frustrated look on Lord Backenstall's face- the same look Makarov often had when his guild got into another fight of did something rash to pick another fight. He peeked over at the Lord- did he know the cloaked man?

...FT...

Thirty-two hours earlier-

The Death Cloud Dallas scowled as he was poured another drink- hardly the reaction anybody would expect from a Dark Guild member, but they did recognize him from the match- so they kept quiet.

 _Damn brat._ Dallas growled then shivered when the image of Natsu with the red eyes appeared in his mind- _was that it?_ He started to stir the ice absentmindedly, _that thing was a monster- how are we supposed to kill it?_ He quickly stood up and threw some money on the counter. _The brat's still in the infirmary now- he'll have a guard, but that won't be too hard- I'll just have to make sure the kid is dead this time._ He thought as he quietly headed towards the Fairy Tail infirmary.

That's when he heard the chuckle behind him, "You really think you can kill him in his sleep- how unoriginal."

Dallas spun around- seeing a man in a black cloak standing behind him, "Who the hell are you?"

"That's no ordinary demon- even fully trained Demon Slayers would have a difficult time killing it, and you're going to after it when you don't even have magic? If you somehow manage to get past the Guild member standing guard, you'll only get slaughtered. You lived last time because the boy still had some control."

Dallas squinted at the man, trying to see under the hood- but it was far too dark. "You talk as if you know how to kill it?"

Suddenly the man was behind him- he grabbed Dallas's chin and held a knife up to his neck, "I'm an assassin- I know how to kill." He said, "Now I couldn't care less about the demon- but take a step near Natsu Dragneel ever again and I'll cut you to pieces- do you understand?"

Dallas snickered, "And why does that brat matter to you?" The cloaked man frowned then jumped back- just barely dodging the same pulse attack that Dallas had struck Natsu with.

The man stood up straight, _he shouldn't have his magic back yet- oh I get it..._ The man ran forward- throwing his cloak to the side- revealing black pants with a gold band above the knee and a black vest that was buttoned with a leather belt- but still exposed his upper chest. On his back were three swords, a longer one with a twisted black hilt and two twin smaller ones with no hilts.

"Oh I get it! You're a merchant that the Fairy Tail guild hired, those fools can't even protect one of their own? How pathetic- I'll just get rid of you then move on, by the end of tonight I'll have enough money to live the rest of my life without a worry-"

The man's face darkened. "Wrong answer." He said and drew the twin blades, speeding up and easily dodging Dallas's attacks. Then he attacked- leaving cuts on Dallas- not too deep, but the venom that they were soaked in would do enough.

Dallas didn't seem to notice the danger he was in as he blasted the man back laughing, "By the way- aren't assassins supposed to hide their faces?"

Suddenly the man appeared behind him, palm open and his normally black eyes a blood red. "It doesn't matter- you're a dead man either way." Then he hit Dallas's back as hard as he could- sending out a little pulse.

Dallas was thrown forward- he crashed into the ground and remained there, unmoving. Koroku walked up, sheathing the twin blades and glared down at the man with his red eyes, "After all this time nothing has changed." He said then walked over and picked up his cloak- putting it back on and flipping up his hood- hiding him from the world again.

Then he walked out of the back alley- leaving Dallas's body to be found by Jura later on.

Current time

The smoking man peeked over at Koroku with a sigh. "Was that blade poisoned too?"

"It was a simple knife." He was quickly answered, and Koroku didn't even bother to peek over, "All he will need is a few bandages."

The smoker scoffed, "More like surgery for us normal people." He said and sat back, "The boss is really pissed at you, you know that right?" He asked.

"Let him be- he is not my concern. I only have one enemy."

"You really aren't worried are you?"

Koroku sat back, "Is there something I can help you with Mistiro?"

The smoker growled, "You could try following some orders." The man said as he stood up- reaching out and grabbing Koroku's shoulder.

Faster than the smoker could keep track of Koroku stood behind him- forcing him to his knees and with one clean swipe, had his twin blades at his throat, and was glaring down at him with a cold look in his eyes. The smoker chuckled, "The eyes of a murderer." He said and smirked, "What are you going to do? Kill me?"

"No." Koroku kept his voice flat, "You and I both know that I can't do that. Try to touch me again and you'll wish I could kill you." Then he released the smoker and glared over at the man in the white robes before leaving.

The smoker looked over at a man sitting on a pillow in the corner of the room- he looked like he was meditating. "You holding up over there?"

"I'm incredibly bored."

The smoker chuckled then looked at where Koroku left from, "Damn fool."

...FT...

Both lines were incredibly long, Natsu peeked over at the line with the water ballons and noticed that it was a tad bit shorter than the rest. He shifted on his feet as his eyes wandered away from the water balloon stand.

He thought back on the cloaked man from before- _Who was that man?_

"Are you alright Natsu?" Happy whispered, noticing that his friend was quietly spacing out.

Natsu slowly nodded and after a moment looked over at his blue haired friend, "I'm alright." He said quietly, "I'm just thinking-"

"You're thinking?!" Happy over dramatically freaked out, "What could you be possibly be thinking about!" He yelled, "Be careful- you might hurt yourself!"

"Jeez." Natsu sighed, "Nice to see how you support me." He said with an obvious sarcastic flair in his tone. He scratched the back of his head, "I'm fine." He shot his friend a small smile, "I guess I'm still a little tired."

"Aye." Happy quietly whispered- worry for his friend in his voice.

Natsu took notice of this and turned to his friend, "I promise I'm just fine- I probably just stayed up a little too late in the party last-"

"You should be resting Natsu Dragneel." A voice interrupted and Natsu peeked back. "If you're not careful you might die." Natsu peeked up, looking into the eyes of Kirum Kortorzi.

"Natsu!"

Happy's voice woke him from his state of shock and he moved quick enough to dodge a blade aimed for his head.

Natsu jumped back, sliding a bit. "What the hell do you want?" Natsu yelled and light his fist on fire.

"You end your cursed bloodline Dragneel." Then he threw a knife and it would have struck if Happy hadn't pulled him out of the way in time.

"Go up Happy!" Natsu yelled and Happy flew up, just barely missing the third knife. Natsu looked down at the ground, _those knives are incredibly fast!_

Happy quickly flew left- dodging another knife and Natsu looked around, _there's so many civilians here- if I attack-_ Natsu let out a curse and looked up, "We need to get away from the civilians!" Natsu told Happy then he looked down. "Left!"

Happy shot out of the way as another something shot by. Natsu frowned- he hadn't seen anything- whatever it was shot at them again and Happy was just barely able to dodge- flying as fast as he could, clutching his friend.

Suddenly both of them were thrown out of the sky as whatever invisible had been shooting at them struck and they crashed into the ground. Happy was pinned down by a few stones as Natsu crashed a few feet away and rolled a few times before stopping and pushing himself up with a pained groan.

Then he felt somebody step on his back and force him down- pinning him to the ground- the Fire Mage cursed and struggled as Kortorzi knelt next to him, using his knee to pin the Dragon Slayer down.

Natsu felt a sharp pain in the middle of his back and the Dragon Slayer cried out and struggled-

Except he wasn't moving.

Kortorzi chuckled and stood up- no longer pinning the Dragon Slayer down but when Natsu tried to stand up he found that he couldn't move. _What's going on?_ He tried clenching his fist but his hand remained still.

He was frozen- not even able to blink or even move his eyes to try and get a view of his attacker. However, he didn't need to as Kortorzi stepped into his view- kneeling down with a proud sneer. "I bet you are wondering what is going on?" He snickered as he fished through a bag on his side- pulling out a sharp looking knife. "Right now the only part of your body that are able to move are the ones that are necessary to keep you alive, like your heart and lungs." He said then looked down at the unmoving Dragon Slayer.

He tried to push himself up- but just as Kortorzi had said, nothing was working. _Was it that pain from earlier? He must've done something to my back._

"Which means I can do whatever I want to you and you can't fight back, scream, or even beg for your pathetic life." Kortorzi said as he rolled Natsu onto his back and forced him to look at him. "But don't worry- you'll be able to feel everything."

"Natsu!" Happy screamed and struggled under the rocks pinning him down, "Leave him alone!" However, Kortorzi ignored him as he brought the knife to Natsu's chest- leaving a cut under his collarbone.

He would have winced if he could. _Shit- I can't move-_

"Natsu!" he heard Happy scream once again.

There was another sharp pain- this time on his stomach. _Happy go get help!_ Natsu internally screamed and hoped that Happy was somehow able to read his mind- or at least would figure out what he wanted like he normally could.

The next cut was a little deeper- Natsu couldn't see them but he was able to tell that they were deeper by the amount of pain that shot through his body. He tried to focus on using his magic, but it was like that was frozen as well- he felt as if he was trapped in Silver's ice once again- just with added pain.

"Natsu!"

 _Happy go get help!_

Then Kortorzi was blasted back by a burst of air.

...FT...

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy yelled and attacked- throwing Kortorzi back and into a wall. Natsu however, unlike what she expected him to do- did not move once his attacker was away from him. "Natsu-san!" Wendy yelled and ran up next to him- her breath hitched as she saw that his eyes were open.

"Natsu!" Happy yelled and flew up next to his friend with Lucy right behind him- she had been the one to free him. Lucy bit her lower lip as Wendy felt for a pulse, "Is he-"

"He's alive." Wendy said, "He must be under some sort or paralysing spell."

"He put something in his back before Natsu stopped moving." Happy spoke up and Wendy nodded.

"That must be the spell."

"You two ladies shouldn't have gotten involved." Kortorzi said as he pushed himself out of the rubble. He held up a knife, "Now all of you will have to die today." He snarled and threw the knife-

Only for it to be slapped aside by a giant cow with an axe. "I don't think so!" Lucy yelled as she held out the key for Taurus.

"You made miss Looooosy mad!" Taurus bellowed and swung his axe- missing the Black Knight by inches.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy attacked again- except this time Kortorzi knew what to look for and he was able to move out of the way and right up next to them. "Shy Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy was able to catch him off guard and he was thrown back once again- only to be struck by Taurus, who was waiting for him.

"You- DAMN BRATS!" Kortorzi bellowed and a huge pulse rang out- throwing everybody back and leaving Natsu exposed. Kortorzi looked over at the defenseless Dragon Slayer and walked forward, drawing a knife. "I was hoping to be able to have the pleasure of giving you a long drawn out death- but it looks like we're going to have to make things quick. What a pity." He sneered and threw the knife.

"Natsu!" Happy screamed.

And the knife was frozen in a wall of ice that had formed between Natsu and Kortorzi. "Get the hell away from him!"

Then Kortorzi was struck in the side by a cow in a speedo, he was able to land on his feet and look up in time to see Gray step in front of the ice wall with Wendy joining him as Lucy and Happy ran back to attend to the unmoving Natsu.

"I warned you-" Gray said in a dangerous voice, "That if you touched him-" He put his fist into the palm of his hand, "I'd kill you!" He ran forward- Kortorzi's knifes being blown away by Wendy's roar. Then the ice mage smirked as he felt the Sky Dragon's reinforcement power up his speed and strength- making him move even faster as he came in for another attack.

Lucy looked back at Natsu, who still hadn't even twitched once. "Try to find whatever Kortorzi put into Natsu-san's back! Once you remove that Natsu-san will be able to move again!" Wendy called back then moved into attack once again.

The Celestial Mage nodded and reached over to roll the Fire Mage onto his back- however, as soon as she touched his shoulder she flinched and quickly pulled her hand back, gasping- _his skin is on fire!_

Natsu's eyesight was beyond blurry- so he had to rely on his ears to try and figure out what was going on- he frowned (well would've if he could frown) there was no noise- _What's going on?_

 _ **So- you're in a position to get killed again,**_ a voice snickered and Natsu would've jumped if he could- it sounded like the person was right next to his ear. _**If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you like being in danger- or do you?**_

 _What the hell?_

 _ **Do you like the rush of power that you feel when you are on death's door? Is that it Natsu Dragneel?**_

 _Who the hell is this?_ Then Natsu's mind began to go fuzzy as he felt himself slipping into darkness.

 _ **Then maybe I'll let you feel that again-**_

Lucy poked at the fire mages skin and winced- he was even hotter than before. "Natsu?" Happy asked worryingly.

"Help me roll him over." Lucy spoke up and the two of them took turned to give the Fire Dragon Slayer small pushes to roll him onto his back- since more than a fraction of a second of contact with the Dragon Slayer was impossible due to his abnormal body temperature. Once he was on his stomach Lucy held out one of her keys. "Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" She yelled and the pink haired maid appeared next to her. "The Black Knight put something in Natsu's back- help me find it."

"Right away Princess." The spirit said and knelt down examining the Dragon Slayer's back. After a moment she frowned and spoke up, "There seems to be a needle in the middle of his back- it that what you are looking for Princess?"

"That must be it!" Happy exclaimed.

Virgo nodded, "It's in there pretty deep- my fingers won't be able to grip it."

Lucy fumbled with a hair pin she had in for the book she had been reading earlier and handed it to her spirit, "Will this work?"

Virgo nodded and used the hairclip as tweezers- gripping something that neither of them could see and pulling it out. Once the light hit it they were able to see a needle that was the thickness of a strand of hair and about two inches long before it turned into dust in the sunlight.

Then Natsu twitched before he attempted to push himself up- only getting a few inches off the ground before crashing again. Then he let out a groan and coughed as he shakily put a hand over his eyes which were tearing up and burned painfully (not the burn he was used to) everytime he blinked- which due to the new wetness was rapidly.

"Natsu?" Happy asked his friend worryingly.

"Side effects from the paralysis." Virgo explained, "He wasn't blinking so his eyes dried out." She said, "And as for the weakness- your body is exhausted from the struggle to move."

After a moment Natsu slowly nodded- but didn't say anything as he felt exhaustion creep up on him, _but at least the creepy voice is gone..._

There was a huge explosion, startling the four of them and Gray's wall was gone. Gray slid back, keeping in between Kortorzi and the four of them.

Lucy caught sight of Wendy standing not too far away breathing heavy, but still ready to fight. The area around them had been pretty well torn up- and Kortorzi was looking pretty worn down too. However, neither side was about to step down. Lucy pulled on her whip of Etiole as Virgo and Taurus got ready to fight.

Happy stayed next to Natsu- who was struggling to stay awake- but even the Exceed looked like he would fight if he had to-

"Enough!"

Everybody turned and their eyes focused on Lord Shantire as he approached. "I did not bring the Dark Guilds here so Light Guilds and Dark Guilds can bicker like children." He scolded as if he were scolding children fighting in the playground for a toy and not a battle between mages-

"No. That would make you look bad if one of your people tried to kill one of ours- that's why in the arena is just fine- accidents happen right?" Gray snapped, standing tall and glaring at Lord Shantire- the look in his eyes saying all the words that needed to be said.

 _I know what you're up to._

...FT...

 **.**

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 **...FT...**

 **AND- There's Chapter Twelve!**

 **Some news for where this story is going there is only three chapters left in this story- originally there were only two but I didn't like ending it at fourteen chapters so I was able to throw in another chapter and it actually helps the story more...**

 **As for the next book I'll leave that up to you guys-**

 **Hiro Mashima has been releasing a lot of information in the more recent chapters that I don't think I'll be able to squeeze into this story line or with it's characters. So if I do continue it I will be leaving those details out and maybe doing other stories not within this series with the new info that Hiro has released.**

 **Either way I will be finishing this story! SO don't worry I will not drop it in mid plot!**

 **So let me know what you think and also if you have any cool ideas- even if I only get a couple that say yes then I'll keep going! So if you're cool with that let me know! =)**

 **Thanks!**

 **\- Dragneel777**

 **Oh BTW- be sure to review plz!**

 **No flames plz!**

' **Til next time!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Finally! Sorry for the long wait- a friend of mine made the mistake of making a bet with me- $200 to read the entire One Piece series (or what's out so far- because there was an update a few days ago** **Oo)** **Needless to say- I win.**

 **Alright Chapter thirteen is up!**

 **Thanks for the review from-**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-Deboo**

 **-proud-to-be-a-panda**

 **-Enjali**

 **-NalliaDragneel3805**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-BigChillFreak**

 **Feel free to review!**

 **But no flames please!**

 **I'm not sure if people are reading this but I left a message on the end of the last chapter- I'll ask again at the end of the series, but the sooner or better. Plz! Thx!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail- all rights go to Hiro Mashima**

 **...FT...**

Natsu woke up in a warm bed with the worried eyes of Lucy and Mira staring down at him, "You're awake!" Mira exclaimed.

"I'll go inform the Master." Said a deeper voice, Natsu recognized as Pantherlily's voice. Then he heard winds and could only assume that the Exceed flew away. Natsu frowned then pushed himself up to a sitting position, "What happened?" Natsu asked- his voice sounded dry and he winced- trying to look at his back, for some reason it was sore.

Lucy frowned worryingly, "You were attacked- do you remember?" She asked as Mira handed him a glass of water, which he gratefully took.

Natsu took a sip and stayed quite as images of the attack ran through his mind. Then he peeked around- not seeing his blue companion and he jumped. "Happy." He set down the glass and turned to Lucy, his voice much more clear. "Is Happy alright?"

"He's fine." Lucy answered quickly, knowing her friend was worried. "Carla is trying to keep him busy."

Natsu slowly nodded, calming down. He sat back and Lucy handed him the glass of water, "Thanks." He mumbled and took the glass taking a few more sips. Then he looked around, noting that he was in the infirmary- he nearly sighed- again. Then he looked back at Lucy, who hadn't moved. "What about Kortorzi?"

"Shantire showed up and he was able to get away." Gray said as he stepped in, frowning at the Fire Mage. "You feeling better Flamebrain?"

"I'm alright." Natsu mumbled and set down the glass- moving so his feet were hanging off the side of the bed. After a moment of hesitation he stood up, quickly stabilizing himself. After a small sigh of relief he spoke up again. "Is there a match right now?"

Gray hesitated then slowly nodded, walking forward to help the wobbly Fire Mage stand. "Yeah- Erza's up, along with Millianna, Eve, Lyon, and Rogue." Then Gray looked away with a weird look on his face and Natsu peeked over- unsure why Gray had a sweat mark next to his head. "Although I kinda feel sorry for Rogue."

...FT...

After the tirad from Porlyusica Natsu wandered out with the other to see the match- under the promise to "not do anything stupid for the day."

Eve and Millianna were out of the match, Eve sitting against the wall while Millianna and Sally Tempus of Raven Tail laid on the ground looking incredibly dizzy.

Erza didn't notice Natsu's entrance since she was far too busy beating the crap out of Death Cloud's Titanro, giving Natsu a little chuckle- not too dangerous anymore are you?

However, Natsu felt truly sorry for Rogue when he saw the arena. It was a bunch of rings spinning in mid-air. Natsu got a sick feeling just from watching it and could tell the other Dragon Slayers were feeling it too, including a very suspicious Laxus- who was looking down to adjust his coat every three seconds.

The rest of them were either pale or various shades of green- including Natsu himself.

Lyon was desperately fighting off Black Knight Sabrorka- who had an easy time moving on the spinning rings. The Ice Mage was having a harder time since he could either focus on moving on the spinning rigs or fire his magic attacks- but not both at the same time.

At the same time Rogue was fighting Death Head Caucus Itriamo, more like trying to run, not get sick(er), and fall off- which the others were quite amazed by the fact that he was still hanging on. Especially those who knew a Dragon Slayer well-

Natsu nodded over at Gajeel as he walked up, who smirked and looked up at the match- bad move, a moment later he was looking for the bin.

"You!" Erza yelled, "You made the deadly mistake of harming my Nakama Death Cloud!" she yelled, and her aura tripled- scaring anybody that wasn't already scared of her.

Natsu felt the sweat on the back of his neck as he looked over at an equally pale Gray with a nervous smile. "Man that sucks for him." He said and the Ice Mage nodded in agreement- since they had been the one of Erza's wrath when she was angry about somebody destroying her precious Strawberry cake-

Erza walked forward as she requipped into her Heavens Wheel armor. "You gave Lucy thirteen wounds- and you gave Natsu forty six wounds." She growled as dozens of swords appeared around her- aimed at the Death Cloud.

 _It doesn't surprise me that she kept track._ Natsu quickly thought- but kept silent. Knowing that the others also weren't surprised. Most of them had been there right after when Erza had made a count of every wound on Natsu's beaten body.

"That's fifty nine wounds total I'm on forty eight- and I'm going to make sure you feel them all!" Then she attacked- all her swords flying forward and destroying everything in their path. Erza being Erza however managed to keep herself in the air. "Forty nine! Fifty!" Each time Erza struck she yelled what number she was on.

 _She's not even counting the other sword wounds._ Natsu realized, but once again said nothing out loud.

Three more rings were destroyed- Rogue, somehow managed hop onto another one as Itriamo crashed into the ground and frantically ran to the side so not to be caught in the crossfire. "Fifty one! Fifty two! Fifty three!" Erza struck in order to keep the Death Cloud in the air.

"Forty four! Fifty five!" Natsu winced at the last one and forced himself to look down due to his stomach twisting in knots at the sight of the spinning rings- despite there being very few of them left due to Erza's attacks. Making it difficult for Lyon and Rogue.

"Fifty six! Fifty seven!" She swung her sword and threw the Death Cloud in the air once more- at the same time destroying more rings to the Dragon Slayers pleasure. "Fifty eight!" Then she kicked him far away from any of the rings and he fell to the ground, "And fifty nine!"

Erza landed safely on the only remaining ring- with Rogue and Lyon staying behind her that way that they were safely out of her path- well, safer than being in front of her.

Titanro crashed into the ground and Erza glared down at him. "You will never even look at Lucy or Natsu ever again you Dark Guild filth- do you understand?" She growled.

Titanro or course, didn't answer her- and nobody dared to point out that he had been unconscious for the past several hits.

Then the timer went off- only a second later the last ring shattered into pieces from all the damage it took and the weight of three people on it- dumping the Mages onto the ground. "That was too close Erza!" Mira called out.

Lucy sighed, "And she went overboard again."

Natsu peeked over at where the other Fairy Tail members were, frowning when he noticed that someone was missing. Natsu turned to Gray, "Hey- where's Gramps?"

Gray kept his voice low, "He went to go talk with someone."

...FT...

Makarov glared at the back of Lord Backenstall. "So you found out about Lord Shantire..." The Lord sighed and waited for the Guild Master to continue.

"Anybody that brings a bunch of Dark Guilds into one place-" Makarov clenched his fists. "I brought my brats here under the assumption that they were helping this town." Somehow the Guild Master kept his voice calm. "Now my brats lives are in danger and Shantire is the reason." He said, "Or so I would like to think- you however were the one to come up with these games-"

Backenstall sighed- not even turning around, "Of course he would take it that far."

Makarov's glare deepened and he looked as if he were going to turn into his titan form any second as he spoke. "I want to know the truth Backenstall."

"Many do." Said a deep voice behind him.

Makarov spun around and glared into the eyes of a man with long blonde hair and white robes. "Who are you?" The Guild Master asked. He frowned at the man. _This man has an incredible amount of magic power- even more than the second or I have. How did I not sense his approach?_

The man didn't answer him and instead continued on with his original topic. "I asked Backenstall to bring Natsu Dragneel here."

The Master turned completely towards him- holding his stance with his fists clenched, "What do you want with him?"

The man gave a small smile. "I have to make sure he is ready for the final battle."

Makarov raised an eyebrow, "Final battle?"

...FT...

The white robed man stepped into the room with a sigh- catching the attention of the smoker as he cleaned his scope. "Are you sure it was such a good idea to tell that old man?" He asked.

The man in the white robed walked farther into the room. "I was left with no choice. I know his type- Makarov of Fairy Tail is the type who would go to impossible lengths to keep his Guild Members safe. If somebody in his guild is in danger I have no doubts that he would tear up this entire town to find answers."

Another man in the corner of the room sighed- he still hadn't moved from last time. He was still in his meditating position. "Let's not do that- the power of a Wizard Saint is a pain in the ass to deal with- that bald guy Jura of whatever is bad enough- a pissed off one? No thank you, I'd rather deal with Koroku- well- actually never mind- I've seen Koroku on his bad days."

The smoker chuckled, "What? Don't want to fight an assassin?"

Then the smoker looked over at the man in the white robes. "I've been meaning to ask you something. You say E.N.D is some insanely powerful demon right? Sure that thing was strong- but even I could kill that thing. Not to mention that Fairy Tail has a Demon Slayer."

"Your point is?"

The smoker sighed. "My point is that Demon Slayers are said to be able to recognize demons and their powers just by looking at them- or so rumors say. If he could I seriously doubt SIlver's son would just sit back and stay quiet if he found out that his sworn enemy is right next to him."

"You really are an idiot aren't you?" The meditating man said in the background. "Do you really think that was really E.N.D?"

The smoker frowned. "It used a curse-"

This time the man in the white robes spoke up. "The Demon Slayer didn't notice E.N.D because it wasn't it." He said and the man looked back. "What we saw back in the arena was merely the seal shifting not breaking."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"The seal shifted- releasing some of E.N.D negative energy which affected the boy's mind. What we saw was the boy influenced by E.N.D's emotions- not the demon itself."

"So it was still the kid?" The smoker asked, "But didn't he say that he used a curse during that match?"

"I looked into that- the demon wants to spread fear- however Dragneel is not capable of using curses. He merely said that to scare the Death Cloud. The boy merely burnt the magic particles in the air and in the Death Clouds body- killing his magic." He said, "It was no curse- just hateful magic." He said.

"The Flame of Emotion?"

"Yes." The man said, "Hate does nasty things to people- and when affected by a demon that boy would have plenty of it."

The smoker shivered, "And let me guess when that thing does come out it will be a shit ton more powerful?"

The man looked over at him, "Let's just say that if E.N.D had been the one to take over during that fight we would all be dead."

"Which is why you have Koroku on high alert..." The smoker sighed, "You know- Koroku is an assassin, not a Demon Slayer."

"Speaking of Koroku-" The meditating man spoke up, "Where the hell is he?"

The smoker looked back, "Something about unfinished business- said somebody wanted to meet him to settle things, this guy or whatever has been looking for him all over town- so he went to go take care of it before it got out of hand and this guy tried anything else."

The man in the white robes sighed. Then he looked out the window with a frown- _however- now that it has shifted- how long will it hold up? It's no longer on stable ground..._

...FT...

Koroku sighed as Ivan stepped into the back alley, "I've been keeping an eye on you Raven Tail- this is out of character for you." He spoke up and Ivan turned towards him. Koroku sat up on a crate and didn't bother hopping down.

"I want to know why you bothered to protect some Fairy Tail scum- who are you?" Ivan spoke up. "The only magic you used against me was to teleport yourself and Salamander." He said as he threw the knife that Koroku had left in his hand.

The cloaked man merely caught the knife and examined it. "You washed it- how nice of you." He said dryly as he put the knife away.

"Thinking that you're tough enough to attack a mage without any magic- I won't take any insult like that-"

Koroku snickered, "Now I can see where your son got that kind of attitude from." He said, "There's always someone stronger than you."

"You dare-"

"Don't forget Ivan- you have a job. Now be a good boy and go do your job."

Ivan looked as if he were going to explode with anger, "You- go to hell!" He yelled and attacked, "Shikigami Torrent!"

A huge wave of the shikigami dolls shot at Koroku- and suddenly he was gone, his cloak falling limply to the ground. A shadow loomed over Ivan and he looked up- just in time to dodge Koroku's twin blades. "So you decide to show your face- how interesting." Then he was forced to dodge once more as Koroku appeared next to him and attacked again before kicking Ivan back- making the Dark Mage crash into the wall.

"It's too bad- I have great respect for your father. Even some for your son-" Koroku looked back at Ivan, "However- people like you are the type I hate the most."

Ivan laughed as he pushed himself out of the rubble, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Throwing your family to the side as if they were garbage- your own son." Koroku attacked, swinging his blades- catching Ivan's shoulder- and passing right through.

He immediately cursed and jumped back- looking around for any sign of the real Ivan. "So does that really bother you? How interesting-"

An explosion threw Koroku to the side and into a wall- another one pinning him to the ground. _He using his illusion magic to hide himself!_ Then another explosion threw him into the crates- the rubble falling on him.

"What's the matter?" He heard Ivan's voice- another explosion struck Koroku, and threw his twin swords far away from him, each sword breaking as another explosion hit each of them. "Go ahead-" Ivan snickered, "Draw that final sword of your's- I'll just destroy that one as well and show you what happens when you mess with a Mage you fool."

Koroku was silent for a moment- his eyes closed. Ivan frowned- he didn't think that he had knocked him out.

"That final sword isn't meant for you- there's only one person I will kill with this sword- don't waste my time fool." Koroku snarled.

"You-"

Then Koroku attacked- his eyes still closed as he ran at Ivan. "What how?" Ivan stepped back as the palm of Koroku's hand hit his chest.

"Your illusion magic is weak- It makes it impossible to find you by your voice, which isn't bad- but I can still sense your soul- a friend of mine would never had made that mistake."

Then Ivan spotted something on Koroku's chest- a tattoo of a sword- just like the one on his back. "That symbol- you're-"

Koroku opened his blood red eyes and Ivan froze- then a pulse rang out and Ivan was thrown back- flying out of the alley and across the street. He crashed into the wall across the street- leaving a deep imprint and falling to the ground unmoving.

"You won't remember any of this when you wake up." Koroku said as he took heavy breaths and was covered in bruises. "Now try to behave- next time I won't bother holding back." The red in his eyes faded and he walked over to his cloak- picking it up and putting it on with an exhausted sigh.

...FT...

Gray swung his ice sword, "Cold Excalibur!" He yelled and struck Kirisa of Death Cloud- freezing her over quickly. He sighed and stood, _just my luck-_ "I'm not really interested in beating up little girls- go find better people to hang out with kid." Then he had to move before he sunk too far in.

That was the trick to their battlefield, keep moving or you'd sink into the ground. Marun of Naked Mummy had found that out the hard way for the rest of them. He stayed still for too long and by the time he realized all he could do was struggle until he was pulled under that sand and was out.

Jenny of Blue Pegasus had been taken out in the first five minutes by Fukuro. Aruna had used Fukuro's distraction for a chance to destroy his jetpack- much to Natsu's pleasure- so at least he was stuck in the same situation as the rest of them.

And of course Toby the idiot- to no one's absolute surprise- somehow managed to hit himself with his paralysing claws and was out.

Gray watched how slow Fukuro was getting and smirked, _not used to running all the time are you- must be hard in quick sand with your big size._ Aruna must've noticed as well because she peeked over at Gray and nodded.

Then she shot a web at Fukuro- trapping him in place as Gray appeared in front of him- not even three feet away from him.

"Ice Make! Ice Cannon!" Gray yelled and shot him in the chest.

"Hoot!" Fukuro yelled ash he was thrown back- crashing into the wall, and Fukuro was out.

Suddenly Aruna cried out and Gray turned back in time to see Kirum Kortorzi throw her into a wall- knocking her out and she sunk into the sand, and was out. The Black Knight stood tall- smirking at the Ice Mage. "Looks like we have a score to settle Gray Fullbuster."

Gray removed his shirt- to hell with what the others thought, he was more comfortable fighting like this. "We most definitely do." Then he slammed his hands into the sand, "Ice Make Floor!" Then he ran forward- slamming his hands in their spell position- on solid ground that would be able to last for a bit.

Gray easily dodged Kirum's first knife, "Ice Make Hammer!" He yelled and a huge ice hammer fell down and missed Kortorzi by inches as the Black Knight moved to the side. Then he swung his hand and Gray was able to spot what looked like a needle in it.

Natsu must've been able to see it from where he was because the Ice Mage heard the familiar Fire Mage's voice yell. "Watch out for that needle! If it gets in you, you won't be able to move!"

Gray remembered how the Fire Mage wasn't moving when he had arrived and with one quick movement he froze Kortorzi's arm and moved out for the way before the Black Knight was able to break the ice around the arm- breaking the needle with it. "Was that how you pinned down Natsu?"

The Black Knight looked over, "Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't be an idiot- there's no way in hell Flamebrain would just lay around and let you kill him. He's too goddamn stubborn." Gray said as glared into Kortorzi's eyes, "Using some cowardly trick like that."

"As long as it get's the job done- and it would've worked too."

Gray attacked once more, "Ice Make Saucer!" He yelled and the disk formed and flew at Kortorzi- who of course dodged it- but missed Gray jumping into the air. "Ice Make Cage!" The huge cage formed around Kortorzi and Gray attacked once more, "Ice Make Cannon!" The cannon formed and fired multiple shots into the cage.

"Ice Make Floor!" He yelled and froze the floor once more. Then he looked up just in time to dodge another knife- then something invisible slammed into him and threw the Ice Mage back.

Gray immediately jumped up- barely dodging another invisible attack- then the third one struck him and two more pinned him to the ground before Kortozi appeared over him and Gray rolled to the side again and again- dodging three more attacks.

Gray rolled to his feet- and ice sword forming in his hand and he swung the ice sword as Kortorzi came at him with what felt like a battalion and Gray was thrown back once more- leaving cuts in several places. The Black Knight chuckled, "Is this all you got Ice Mage- then I have nothing to be worried about. The next time I see Natsu Dragneel I send him to hell where he belongs and not a damn one of you faries will be able to get in my way!" He yelled and attacked before Gray was ready, leaving a deep cut on his shoulder. Then he attacked again and this time Gray was able to use the ice sword to block by inches.

"I won't let you." Gray snarled- not even looking up a the man. "And what do you get out of this, money?" Gray yelled and created a shield to block another of the Black Knight's invisible attacks then the Ice Mage pushed forward- swinging his sword again and again- trying to keep Kortorzi on the defensive.

"You don't know what that boy is." Kortorzi dodged one of his attacks and used that as a chance to strike- Gray barely managed to block before he pushed him back again and continued to attack. Behind them Rufus had managed to defeat Orba and stood on a still solid part- wisely watching the two of them and keeping out of their fight. "You saw a perfect example of it recently- don't think I give a damn about the money, boy."

Gray thought back on the red eyed Natsu, his fighting, leaving the arena, and their Natsu not remembering anything afterwards. _What the hell was that thing?_

Suddenly Gray was pinned to the wall, "But I'll be nice before I kill you- after all you tried so hard." Kirum said and sneered, "He's-"

"An idiot." Gray interrupted.

Kortorzi blinked slightly surprised.

"He's hot-tempered. A complete fool. He's childlike, scattered brain, moronic. He's destructive, doesn't even know how to hold back in a fight, and does the stupidest of stuff for the stupidest of reasons. But he's always been there for us and is willing to do anything for us- he's willing to fight for us no matter how injured he is himself." The Ice Mage's hand twitched. "I warned you several times and you still didn't listen, and even now you're threatening his life." He said. "So whatever happens is your fault."

"Ice Make Cannon!" He yelled and shot Kortorzi at point blank with the ice cannon before running forward. "Ice Make! Ice Bringer!" He yelled as he slapped to knifes to the side, appearing behind Kortorzi's defence. Then he swung the two swords- not even hearing the time go off as he struck in an "x" fashion across Kortorzi's chest.

Gray stood over the down Kortorzi- breathing heavy from the beating he took and smirked. "Yeah right- if you can't fight me there's no way in hell you're getting past some of the others in Fairy Tail." Then he frowned, "I won't let you go anywhere near him." Then he left the arena, peeking up at Makarov as he left.

...FT...

All of Fairy Tail stood together, each one looking just as serious as the person next to them. Makarov peeked over at Natsu, "To start off with- Natsu do you wish to stay in the games? I ask you to think about it. If you stay in your life can be in serious danger."

Natsu peeked up at the Master and frowned before sighing. "There's nothing to think about. I already told you- well Gray- if I leave the games Shantire will just attack me in public. There's only one round left-" He looked away then looked back with the typical Natsu fire in his eyes. "I'll show them I'll take them down just like everybody else."

Makarov stared into Natsu's eyes for a moment then he slowly nodded. "Very well. I have spoken to Lord Backenstall and I feel that it is necessary to inform the rest of you of what we know. Lord Shantire wants Natsu dead for something that Natsu himself isn't even aware of. Whatever it is Backenstall is convinced that it will help him win whatever fight he believes is to come."

Natsu frowned, "So what is it?"

Makarov peeked down at the confused Dragon Slayer and shook his head. "Unfortunately I haven't the idea." Then he spoke to the rest of them."No matter, I have decided to play along for now- this may last far past these games. For now only five of us may be on the field- but that does not mean that they are fighting alone. As a Nakama we all fight as one." Everyone remained silent. "As long as we stay true to our hearts and each other we shall not be led astray- a guild is a family, and we are willing to fight for our family!"

Everybody in the guild cheered. Their voices were able to be heard all over the city- along with their determination.

...FT...

Natsu walked up to the Ice Mage and grabbed the back of his shirt- which he surprisingly still had on- startleing the Ice Magre. 'Wha- what the hell Flamebrain-"

"Just come on." Natsu snapped, not looking back at him as they walked out of the building that the Guild was using.

Gray frowned and sighed, "Fine." He stepped up next to the Fire Mage and followed him as they walked through time. "So what's going on?" He asked after a moment, peeking over at the pink haired mage. "This isn't really like you."

"Guess I'm a little sick and tired of being useless."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"First Dallas beats the crap out of me- and I don't care if I technically won- I don't remember any of that. Then Ivan manages to sneak up on me in that maze- I might have been able to fight him off is that cloaked guy hadn't come but I'm not really sure- then Kortorzi comes and I couldn't even move to fight him off." Gray peeked over at Natsu's clearly frustrated face. "They only have one round left- I need to figure out something quick."

"And you grabbed me because you need somebody to train against?" Gray asked- despite it being more of a statement.

Natsu tensed up, "You seem to be able to handle Kortorzi."

"So could Erza and Laxus- you know what nevermind." Gray said as the two of them walked into the tree line.

After five minutes the two of them walked into a clearing and Gray peeked over at Natsu. "By the way- do you know who that cloaked man was?"

Natsu shook his head and frowned. "What's the matter?"

The Fire Mage hesitated for a moment before he spoke up. "That guy smells like Zeref." Gray turned and waited for Natsu to continue. "Not exactly like Zeref- but there's a similarity between them." He looked away. "And something about him is familiar." He mumbled- but it was still loud enough for the Ice Mage to hear.

"Familiar? Did you run into him somewhere before?"

Natsu shrugged, "Not that I can remember."

Gray frowned- looking over at Natsu. Then he sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. "The final round starts and normal time tomorrow, we'll probably be up with this all night." He looked over at the Dragon Slayer. "Wendy was able to heal the cuts Kortorzi left on you,but how's your shoulder- will you be able to handle all this?"

Natsu nodded. "I'll be fine- what ever healing spell that guy used really worked- it feels as good as new."

Gray nodded and threw off his shirt- slamming his hands together. "Then let's get started."

Natsu grinned then fire swirled around him."Sound good to me."

...FT...

Erza stepped up next to Lucy and Happy- who were sitting and watching Gray and Natsu fighting from the tree-line. She scowled. "Are those two idiots fighting again?"

"Natsu asked for help with training." Happy explained. "These past few days have been really frustrating him."

Lucy nodded- she had noticed that the Dragon Slayer had been acting frustrated the past few days. Erza sighed and looked back over at the fight- but made no move to break it up, she had also noticed how the Fire Mage had been acting lately. "I overheard a conversation between Natsu and The Master- according to Natsu Ivan had been using some sort of spell to hide his scent."

"That explains why Natsu hadn't noticed that he was there." Happy said.

Lucy looked up at Erza. "Can Ivan do that?"

Erza shook her head. "I'm not sure. But The Master found it doubtful."

"Shantire." Lucy said and Erza nodded. The Celestial Mage frowned and looked back at the fight.

 **.**

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 **...FT...**

 **Well there's chapter thirteen- a little shorter than I planned but that's okay.**

 **Feel free to review- but NO FLAMES plz!**

' **Til next time!**


	15. Chapter 14

**And Here's Chapter fourteen!**

 **Thanks for the reviews from-**

 **-Snowflake**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Enjali**

 **-Attackoneverything**

 **-Perp-lex16754**

 **Feel free to review! (plz do! I want to see if I can get past 100 reviews! =)**

 **No Flames plz!**

 **I do not own Fairy Tail- all rights go to Hiro Mashima**

 **Enjoy!**

 **...FT...**

All fifty Mages in the games stood on the arena floor- both dark and light. Lucy peeked over at Natsu, if he was scared he didn't show it.

Natsu peeked down at Lucy, "Hey Luce- don't look so nervous, you'll do fine."

"I'm not worried about me." Lucy said quickly, earning a confused look from Natsu. Lucy looked over at the Dark Mages and whispered, knowing that the Dragon Slayer could still hear her voice. "Are you going to be alright? These guys all want to kill you-"

Natsu put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "What's new really?" He chuckled and gave her a bright smile. "I made a promise to Igneel. I'm pretty sure I can keep one more promise." His face turned more serious as he looked down at her. "I promise that I'm not gonna die today."

Lucy smiled and nodded- then she chuckled, knowing what else would push him forward. "Once this is all over we should get some dinner- or whatever the meal is, my treat." She said- knowing full well that food was the best way to get anything out of the Dragon Slayer- even if it did empty her wallet.

"Awe sweet! Now there's no way I'm dying!" Natsu shouted and Lucy giggled.

Gray smirked over at the Dragon Slayer as the announcer spoke, "The rules of the final round are simple. All over town there are monsters, the team to defeat the most monsters wins!"

All the mages were silent, a pen could have been dropped in the arena and it would have been heard.

Finally, Gray spoke, "Seriously?"

"We're not even fighting each other?" Lucy whispered, "this is completely different than the other rounds."

"Don't let your guard down." Erza said.

"No way in hell will I do that- especially not with these freaky rules." Gajeel said, "What kind of monsters anyway?"

"You will have two hours and your battle field will be the entire town!" The announcer walked up and handed each team a blank envelope. "In each envelope is the location where you'll start!"

Natsu peeked over at the Sabertooth team as they opened and read the letter they were given. Then he turned to Erza- who had opened their own envelope. "Where are we starting?"

"The train station."

Natsu groaned- _of course his luck._

...FT...

"We wait for the fireworks." Erza said- watching the sky. "Then we have to split up."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lucy asked, peeking over at Natsu nervously.

"That's the rules." Erza spoke up, "We don't have a choice."

Gajeel scowled behind her. "Sure, and I wonder why?" The Iron Dragon Slayer said with an obvious sarcastic flair in his voice.

Erza did not answer him, instead she turned to Natsu. The Fire Mage immediately tensed up at the sight of her face- completely avoid of any joke. "If you are attacked send up a signal." She ordered.

"Fine."

Then the fireworks shot up into the sky- in clear view of every Mage (light or dark). "It's time." Gajeel said, as calm as ever- almost to the point of sounding bored.

"See you guys when we win." Natsu said. Then he ran forward with a small wave, leaving the rest of the group standing at the train station.

Gray sighed and walked forward. "I should get going." He said.

"Gray-" Erza spoke up- then stopped at the Ice Mage's wave.

"I know, I got it." He said then he ran off.

Lucy spotted Gajeel sneaking off without so much as a good-bye, not that it really shocked her- more like she was wondering why he was actually sneaking off. (If he was trying to be any stealthier he'd be tip-toeing.) She turned back to Erza. "I'm heading out."

"Right. Good luck Lucy." Erza said and Lucy nodded before running off. Leaving Erza alone at the train station. She peeked over in the direction that Natsu had run off in. "Be careful Natsu."

...FT...

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled and struck down another monster with his fiery fist. Then he stood up, taking a deep breath- and glancing around. That had been the third monster and no sign of any Dark Guild members wanting to kill him. Natsu sighed and looked up at the clear blue sky.

 _Funny how the most beautiful days were accompanied by disaster for the Fairy Tail Mages._

Natsu fought back a sigh, remembering that it had been a clear and sunny day the day the Tartarus fight had begun...

Suddenly Natsu was in a forest looking up at an equally clear sky. The trees were insanely tall compared to him. "Natsu!" A familiar voice called out to him.

He blinked and he was back in the town- in the games. _What was that?_

...FT...

"Is it time for punishment Princess?"

"Wha- no!" Lucy pointed to the monster. "Take that thing out!"

"Right away Princess." Virgo bowed, then drilled in the ground. After a moment, the monster fell who knows how far. Then Virgo re-appeared. "I have destroyed the monster Princess."

"Alright!"

"Shall I be punished Princess?" Virgo asked- with a little too much hope ringing in her voice.

"Um- no." Lucy sweat dropped, she looked up to the sky where she could everybody's score and saw a nicely written one by her name. "Got one." She said then took a moment to look over everybody else's score. Erza already had five (not that it surprised the Celestial Mage). Gajeel was at four, and Natsu and Gray were at three.

In a blink of an eye Lucy watched as Natsu's score went up to four- no doubt seeing that Gajeel was ahead fueling the Fire Mage.

Lucy sighed in relief then looked back up with a smile on her face. "He's still okay." She whispered to no one- then she ran off to find another monster.

...FT...

Gray spotted Natsu getting another point, normally the Ice Mage would make it a top priority to make sure the Flamebrain didn't stay ahead. However, he had another job to worry about. He snickered, "You're lucky this time moron." He said with a smirk, knowing that after this Natsu would not let him live it down that he had got more points than him. That would be better at least then what would happen if they failed. He scowled at the thought of that- still looking up at the sky for a moment. He nodded then walked down the street at a fast pace with the Dragon Slayer tattoos appearing on his arm.

Gray clenched his fist and glared ahead of him as he walked just a little faster, his goal- he could tell- was just ahead of him.

...FT...

"Come on you weaklings!" Gajeel yelled as he took out another monster with one shot. He looked over at another one that appeared and he struck it, "At least give me a challenge!" He yelled as- again- the monster was taken out in one hit. However, he didn't notice, "I'm getting bored." He turned and frowned- noticing that the monster was already gone, "How pathetic." The Dragon Slayer scowled and looked around. He was getting annoyed- and it didn't help that he was also getting hungry. He scowled and looked around- following wherever his feet were taking him.

He had been walking for a few minutes before he stopped and looked over to his left and smiled- seeing what he liked the most a forge for a blacksmith- which meant iron.

His stomach growled and he walked forward. Looking around at all the metal- he looked over to his right and smiled at the useless metal- well useless to anybody else, but it would make a decent meal for him.

He had been heating for about five minutes when he was rudely interrupted.

"You look pretty bored!" Gajeel heard somebody yell and he scowled before he had to dodge an attack. He landed and looked over at Raven Tail. Nullpudding grinned, "Maybe we can help you pass the time." He said.

Gajeel scowled. _I thought I picked up their stench..._ Then he stood tall and folded his arms, smirking. "Well I'm pretty sure the rules were to attack monsters- not each other. He cracked his knuckle- grinning. "Although-" He held up his fist- transforming it into an iron club. "If this is what you guys want- I will agree that this will be way more fun than those so-called monsters, and I'll still have enough time to get back to the job at hand." Gajeel got ready to attack. "This kill two birds-"

And he attacked- extending and slamming his iron club into the Raven Tail Mages- throwing them all back and his grin widened. "With one iron club."

...FT...

Erza stopped running and peeked back as a street deeper in town was destroyed. She could see smoke, but didn't see a distress signal- and the fight was continuing so she turned away and continued to her destination. Up ahead another monster appeared and ran at her as soon as it noticed her- Erza sped up and re-quipped into her Black Winged Armor and took it out in one shot. She landed and re-quipped back into her heart kreuz armor and ran off- not even waiting for it to hit the ground before she was off. (Not that it ever did.)

 _Still no signal from Natsu-_ This bugged Erza. The Dark Guilds seemed willing to do anything to get at Natsu and he was alone at the moment. She was expecting an attack by now, she scowled as another monster appeared in her sight. "What are you planning Shantire?"

...FT...

"Whoa!" Natsu yelled and was forced to jump back- barely dodging an attack from a monster that was the same size as him. The monster came at him with incredible speed- making it almost a monster Jet (Natsu snickered at the picture that was made in his head- the monster with Jet's head on it and was wearing his clothes.) The monster was within inches of him and was barely able to get out of the way, "Crap!" he spun in mid-air, sucking in air, "Fire Dragon's-" Before he could finish the monster was in his face again and it struck him- throwing Natsu against the wall and he yelped as he crashed into the ground.

Natsu peeked up as the monster appeared above him, "Crap!" He yelled again and rolled out for the way- dodging its attack and continued rolling- dodging three or four more of its attacks. "Fire Dragon's-" He rolled onto his back taking aim as the monster appeared above him, "Roar!"

A torrent of fire took out the speedy monster. Natsu didn't even have to crane his neck to see the score up and he grinned. "Got it." He sat up and looked around. "They're getting stronger." He mumbled. Then he looked back up and he frowned- seeing Gajeel's score hadn't changed for the past ten minutes, and Gray's hadn't changed in twenty minutes. His frown deepened, were they fighting really strong monsters? He focused his hearing- he could hear a few fights in the town...

Then he looked ahead, he didn't remember that explosion from earlier that was near the middle of town. He looked over his shoulder, _were they caught up in that?_

 _Maybe I should go look..._ He shook his head, his gut feeling saying that it was alright- they were fighting. They could both take care of themselves and wouldn't want his help.

He looked around, _I need to focus on myself right now- they'll be fine._ He said- scowling when he realized that he was worrying about those two out of all people. His scowl deepened as he looked around- he was alone.

He had expected an attack by now- the last few times they attacked almost immediately. So, where were they?

His ears picked up movement behind him and he looked back seeing a huge monster standing behind him- getting ready to attack. _How did I not notice that?_ It raised its arm and roared and attacked.

Natsu started to move to his feet- ready to defend himself-

Suddenly he was in a different forest- pinned to the ground and there was something huge looming over him. He heard a loud roar and his entire body flared in pain and he screamed- his scream was high pitched.

Everything around him was incredibly tall-

-no Natsu was just small.

"Natsu-san!"

Something slammed into Natsu- throwing him back. He- and whatever hit him crashed into the ground several meters away- followed by a loud explosion. He heard movement and felt something- no someone shake his shoulder. "Natsu-san are you okay? Natsu-san!"

Natsu groaned and pushed himself back up and looked around- he was back in the town. "Again?" He mumbled.

"Natsu-san!" Natsu looked over at the source of the yelling. Sting spoke again, "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah."

Sting breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good are you alright?"

Natsu nodded (he'd been asked that question way too many times lately.) "What happened?"

Sting frowned and stood up- offering a hand. Natsu took it they pulled him up- Natsu brushing himself off- also taking a peek at his scarf (habit lately he found). "I'm not really sure. You were doing fine- but then you froze up. I was barely able to get you out of the way- I also took out the monster." Sting said and jutted a thumb over at where the monster used to be.

Natsu peeked over and scowled. "Dammit."

Sting chuckled. "Relax- make a left up ahead there is a bunch of monsters waiting to get their asses kicked by the fountain."

Natsu nodded, "I guess I owe you one." Natsu said looking over at where Sting had mentioned.

"You gonna be okay?"

Natsu nodded, "Yep- I'll see you later." He said and was about to head out- then he peeked back. "Thanks for the quick save."

Sting smirked, "Wow- you thanked somebody-" He teased and Natsu scowled. Sting chuckled then grinned, "Sure- but don't do that again."

Natsu looked ahead and nodded, "Right." He said then Sting and Natsu ran off in different directions. Natsu peeked back, _so he's in on this too-_ he smirked and looked ahead. His feet carried him forward, but his mind was elsewhere. It was back thinking back on what happened.

The huge form that loomed over him- the roar. It was so familiar- and it sent a chill down his spine-

 _And what was that pain from?_

Natsu peeked up just in time to see Gray's score go up to four, and he smirked. "Well look who's decided to join us." He snickered as he ran- looking up at the sky. Then he slipped, nearly crashing into the ground.

Once he was able to stabilize himself he sighed in relief then took a look around. "What the-" The full block had completely been frozen over by a slightly purplish ice. Natsu frowned as he examined the area. "Devil Slayer Ice."

He took a few careful steps forward and Natsu saw five ice statues that looked like people. Natsu slowly and carefully continued forward- so he wouldn't slip again- and approached the statues to get a closer look. As soon as he looked he immediately was able to recognize the face Death Cloud's Pantos. He stepped back and looked around- _Iia, Kirisa, Titanro, and the guy that replaced Aranuami (he couldn't remember his name- not that he even tried) ..._ Yup- all five Death Cloud were here. He peeked up at the points - Death Cloud was at one point. Now that he thought back on it Death Cloud's points hadn't changed since five minutes after the final round had begun, and that was almost an hour ago.

Natsu stepped back, remembering back when he had been frozen by Silver's ice that he was still alive inside it. Even if Natsu did want to melt the Demon Slayer ice he didn't know how. Atlas Flame hadn't been able to do it so he was fairly sure that he wasn't able to get his flame hot enough- yet. He sighed and looked at the frozen Pantos skeptically. "Um- I'm assuming that Gray's gonna unfreeze you guys after this match (or at least before we leave)." He tapped Pantos's shoulder, "Until then don't do anything stupid." Then he turned and walked away- nearly slipping on the way out.

...FT...

Gajeel scowled as he took down his seventh monster- they were definitely getting stronger. He was happy enough about that- then he scowled and looked up, seeing Natsu's score jump from five to seven.

 _He must've found two monsters in the same area!_ "Dammit Salamander!" He yelled and watched, his eyes getting red(er) with fury as The Fire Mage's score went up to eight. "OH- NO WAY IN HELL!" Gajeel roared and would've been on fire had he been a Fire Dragon Slayer. He turned and stomped away to find more monsters to beat the crap out of.

He did take a moment to look up at Raven Tail's score and was pleased to see that their twenty-seven points hadn't changed since he had demolished in what was supposedly called "a fight."

Then he looked back at his team's points, Erza had eleven, Salamander had eight, Stripper had six points, and Bunny Girl had five points.

Then Natsu's points went up to nine.

"DAMMIT SALAMANDER!"

...FT...

Makarov watched with amusement as the two Dragon Slayers battled to stay ahead of each other. Gajeel managed to catch up to Natsu- but the Fire Dragon Slayer refused to let him go ahead- keeping the two of them even.

Erza was ahead of course. Gray had tried catching up but now every time it showed him he was chuckling and fighting monsters at his own speed (still keeping an eye on the score of course- because he would never let Flamebrain see him practically letting him go ahead). Even Lucy was working as hard as she could- she didn't find many but when she did she went at them with full force.

Natsu's cry of pain dragged the Guild Master out of his thoughts and he looked back at the screen as Natsu stumbled back with a knife to the shoulder.

...FT...

Natsu had to move quickly to dodge the next attack at him from Kortorzi. He quickly pulled the knife out of his shoulder, "Dammit." _It was healed- but still a little too slow..._ He looked up as another knife flew at him and he used the blade in his hand to parry the blow.

Kortorzi ran at him and Natsu was able to see the needle in his hand. Immediately he covered his whole body in flames and the needle disintegrated as soon as it touched the flame. Natsu dodged the Black Knight's fist with a smirk on his face as he spun around- planting a flaming foot to the side of his head- throwing the Black Knight back.

Natsu inhaled, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He yelled and the torrent of fire hit Kortorzi as he stood up. Once the attack was over Kortorzi looked up and got a fire fist to the face- followed by a kick to the stomach.

He growled and reached out to try the Dragon Slayer- but Natsu was faster- moving out of his reach and attacked with another breath.

The Black Knight didn't even have a chance to move before Natsu's foot connected with his face. Then Natsu slid back before running forward once again. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" He yelled and the attack hit- throwing Kortorzi back once again. Natsu smirked and looked over at the pile of rubble the Black Knight was in. "I'm not just gonna sit back and let you kill me- I don't care what your reason is."

Kortorzi pushed himself out of the rubble and Natsu stared in shock- he only had a few bruises. "What-"

Kortorzi appeared directly in front of him and Natsu covered himself in flame again. Kortorzi smirked, "Smart- with that fire I won't be able to use my needles against you- and it'll burn me if I try to punch you-" He snickered. "Well almost."

Natsu gasped and moved away- but it was too late, he was thrown back as Kortorzi's fist made contact with his stomach and he crashed painfully into the fountain.

The Fire Mage coughed painfully- holding his stomach as he pushed himself up. Then he looked up as Kortorzi approached him and stared in shock at his fist. It wasn't even red. "What?" Natsu stood up- he knew that Kortorzi was probably a Fire Mage (he had figured that out from the flame bullets he had shot at Gray during one of their earlier fights) but Natsu had fought other Fire Mages before and his fire was able to burn them.

Kortorzi attacked and Natsu was forced to dodge- missing the knife by inches. He spun around just in time to see the wall of fire heading towards him and he grinned- standing in his spot as the fire hit him, and began to eat it-

-and choked.

Pain shot through his body and he collapsed to his knees in agony- staying down as the pain continued to wrack through his body. He felt something strike him and he was thrown back- crashing into a wall.

Pain continued to course through his body as he shakily pushed himself to a sitting position and took a look at the damage. He was a Fire Dragon Slayer covered in burns, "I couldn't eat it?" _Is it God Slayer Fire?_ He looked at some of the flame which was still around- turning some of the rubble nearby, and paused.

God Slayer was black- the fire he was looking at was pale- and if he looked close enough he could see almost a purplish hue to it, like-

"Demon Slayer." He mumbled.

Kortorzi smirked. "Very good Dragneel." Then he attacked once more with another blast of the fire.

Natsu cursed and stood up- running out of the way and behind the fountain. He slid to a stop and shot some fire into the sky- creating fireworks. "By the time they come it will be too late." Natsu spun around, Kortorzi standing directly behind him. He grabbed Natsu's injured shoulder- earning a yelp from the Dragon Slayer. Then he used his advantage to drag Natsu to the ground and used his own body weight to pin him down to the ground. "Nice try Dragneel- but good bye- your kind cannot possibly win against mine." He said as he drew a knife and brought it down.

Natsu was able to grab the knife and using as much strength as he could he pushed onto it to keep it from stabbing him. Kortorzi sneered in response and put his whole-body weight behind it, and Natsu was losing ground- bring the knife closer to his neck. "D-dammit." Natsu sputtered, his muscles screaming at him- and his shoulder about ready to give out.

 _Don't you dare!_ Natsu mentally screamed and squinted his eyes closed- focusing his magic around him and his whole body lite a fire.

Kortorzi noticed this and smirked, "Fool- I'm a Fire Demon Slayer- even your fire is useless against me..."

"Would't b-be the first time- that's hap-pened." Natsu sputtered.

"Yes, well unlike that God Slayer you fought I'm going to kill you first," Kortorzi said and suddenly his Demon Slayer fire covered Natsu and Natsu screamed in pain- losing several inches of ground on the knife before he was able to regain the ability to push back- the knife leaving a small cut on his neck.

 _You can do this- focus!_

Natsu's own fire came back and Kortorzi stared in confusion as it didn't grow as he had expected it to- it grew enough to engulf the two of them- but instead it was getting hotter. "Just give up already." He growled, "No matter what you do you are going to die today." He said as he burned Natsu once more- this time Natsu yelped (expecting it this time) but did not stop and the fire continued to get hotter.

"I- I made a p-promise-" Natsu stammered, pushing back, and putting as much magic as he could into making his fire even hotter and Kortorzi frowned, as he was starting to feel something from the fire- it was uncomfortable. Natsu pushed back on the knife and was starting to gain ground and Kortorzi's eyes widened in shock. "I promised- Ig- Igneel and Lu-cy. My N-Nakama!" His arms were straightening and the ground itself was starting to melt around them.

 _It's still getting hotter!_

Natsu was now shouting. "I made a promise to them that I would continue living! I won't die! I promised them that I wouldn't die!" He yelled- Kortorzi eyes widened even more as he noticed that the Dragon Slayer's fire was starting to burn him.

"That's impossible-" He mumbled as he watched the fire starting to burn away his own magic. He looked over around at the fire- which was now beyond hotter than ever- melting the buildings around them and Kortorzi noticed in shock- and horror- that it was also burning the air.

He felt his magic inside him start to weaken and he looked back at the pink-haired Dragneel in shock.

He's burning the magic-

"I promised them!" Natsu continued to yell- his voice now clear without any strain in it as he shouted for the whole world to hear." And dammit! I won't let a scum bag like you make me break that promise to them!"

 _ **Then how about I help you with that?**_

Kortorzi's eyes widened (even more if possible) in horror as he had only blinked and he was looking into glowing red eyes. "It can't be-"

Then the entire area exploded in fire.

When the fire disappeared, they were still in the same position and remained like that for a few moments.

To Natsu's horror all the strength disappeared and he felt his body go limp- the knife coming down on him, and he squinted his eyes shut- ready to feel the blade pierce him.

Suddenly Natsu felt all the weight removed from him, "White Dragon's Roar!" Natsu opened his eyes to see Rogue pulling back on the knife and Sting's breath attack threw Kortorzi off of him and into a wall, leaving the knife in Rogue's hand.

"Couldn't have said it better myself Natsu-san." Rogue spoke, "Can you stand?"

Natsu grinned, "I might need a little help up." He admitted and Rogue nodded- him and Sting helping him up to his feet. "Nice of you two to show up."

Sting hoisted one of Natsu's arms over his shoulders- helping to hold the pinkette up. "You looked like you could use some help." He looked over as the Black Knight struggled to stand. _What the? I don't sense any magic from him!_ He looked around- now that he looked in on it the whole area felt almost- empty.

Sting remembered what happened during the fight against Dallas and he tensed up- _Did he do that again?_

"Sting." Rogue spoke up.

"Yeah- I know." Sting answered and suddenly moved Natsu to the side. "You're up!" He yelled.

"Not that there's much of a choice on that." Rogue muttered.

Kortorzi could only stare in horror as the ice arrow flew at him from the ice tower across town with incredible speed with a really pissed off Black Winged Erza just a second behind it.

The arrow struck- freezing his chest and a split second later Erza didn't even bother to hold back on her attack.

Sting winced as the dust settled, "He's not going to be moving around for a little while." He said while shifting Natsu to an easier position.

Erza stood tall- her eyes screaming murder. "We told you- not a step near him."

Gray- from the top of the tower nodded, satisfied. "Try getting up now you bastard."

Gajeel- on the opposite side of the city- sat on a broken wall eating some iron. "I guess that means it worked- wish I could see the look on his face." He took another bite. Then he peeked back at the other members of black Knight- who were beaten up and trapped in iron bounds.

Lucy had to use one more attack on the last Naked Mummy member with the whip of Etoile.

"Nice mooooves Miss Loosy!" Taurus cooed.

"Well done Lucy." Loki said. Not too far away Lamia scale had managed to take down all of Death Head Caucus. Having the help of the last three members of Sabertooth, Loki looked up at the tower of ice that stood tall over the buildings, "Do you think that worked?"

"It worked." Lucy said- her voice void of any doubt or hesitation.

Makarov smiled as the timer went off and the crowd and the announce were stunned into silence. Not that he could blame them- everything had been pulled off in seconds, using Natsu's fireworks as the signal. All Dark Guilds had been demolished before the cameras could even catch on.

 _Makarov looked over the the man in the white robes. "What are you talking about?"_

 _The man sat back, "The arena is made so Mages cannot use their full powers in it." He said, "The barrier puts a limit on their magic. The last round will take place outside the arena- they will do this so that that dark mages can go at Natsu with their full power."_

 _Makarov stood in shock. "But that would put the whole town in danger-"_

" _Shantire does not care." The man said, "The dark mages will be at full power-" then the man smiled, "But then again so will the light mages." He said, "If someone gets injured in the final round- they may not be standing up again- at least not for a week or two." Makarov listened quietly, "That will give you Fairies time to win this and get back home before they get back up."_

" _Will they be coming back for Natsu?"_

 _The man looked out the window, "Some will I'd imagine."_

"Well done brats." Makarov said as the points flashed up- Fair Tail was in first. Despite everything that had happened they had still managed to stay ahead. That's what Fairy Tail was all about.

The crowd began cheering- finally had awoken from their shock and the cheering began to get louder and louder until the arena began to shake.

Suddenly the lacrima vision switched to Shantire's face- quieting the entire arena. "Congratulations- now that first place has been determined we will begin part two of the final round!" He shouted and the crowd cheered.

Makarov frowned. "So, it's not over?"

Over by where the mages in the games normally stood Koroku's eyes widened in shock. _Wait what?_ He shifted on his feet. _This wasn't a part of the plan!_ His fists clenched and his jaw tightened in frustration. "Damn that bastard." He growled.

The five screens flickered- showing each one of the Fairy Tail mages in the games on different screens. Erza stood- still having that dangerous look in her eyes. Gray kept his face straight. Lucy couldn't help but to look a little bit nervous. Gajeel would've looked a bit more serious if his mouth hadn't been stuffed with iron. Natsu was struggling to stay awake as he looked up- he kept his face straight, but in his eyes, you could see the pain. "Against your final opponent."

"Lucy!" Lyon shouted as the Celestial Mage vanished in mid-air, along with her Celestial Spirits. Gajeel- across town- had also vanished in mid-bite, any metal that hadn't been in his mouth at the time clattering to the ground.

Rogue stared in shock, he had only blinked and Erza was gone. He turned looking at the top of the ice tower- Gray was gone as well.

"Natsu-san!" Rouge turned to Sting who was holding out his arm- staring at where Natsu had just been. "He's gone- he just vanished." Sting said- his voice stammering with shock.

Rogue frowned and looked up. _Make sure you win Fairy Tail!_

 **.**

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 **.**

 **.**

 **Chapter Fourteen is done!**

 **I got two more Chapter left- after that I will be posting a note with a few questions. I had asked it in this area a couple of chapters ago but still haven't got any responses!**

 **Feel free to review!**

 **No Flames plz!**

' **Til next time!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 already...**

 **Now before anything**

 _ **I NEED TO KNOW IF YOU GUYS WANT A SEQUEL!**_

 **I have ideas if you do, but they will not be including this last arc, so think of it as an alternate ending...**

 **There will be a lot of tormenting poor Natsu- and if you guys have any ideas let me know- the more the merrier I am going to try and make it so each story is longer and longer- this one was hard because it was my first year in college.**

 **As for the chapter sorry for the long wait- life isn't nice to fanfic writers =( I've got one more chapter left after this one, hopefully it won't take as long to post. But on the bright side this chapter really expanded- when I wrist thing typed it- it was less than 3000 words, now it's over 7000 words =)**

 **Just let me know as soon as possible!**

 **Anyway- thanks for the review from-**

 **-Sailor fairy tail**

 **-Deboo**

 **-Enjali**

 **-Guest**

 **-Evoli (Guest)- haha using my own words against me... =)**

 **Feel free to review (please do I want to make it to 100! I'm soooo close!)**

 **But NO FLAMES plz.**

 **Sorry for the long wait-**

 **Enjoy!**

 **...FT...**

The man in the white robes sat silently as he watched the audience's reaction to the surprise of one more fight. Most of the audience seemed excited by the new turn of events. The Fairy Tail Guild seemed nervous- no doubt due to the unwanted surprise and the fact that their mages were already worn out from the amount of magic they had used earlier. However, they also seemed angry- ready to make a move against the person responsible for this. The man let out a sigh- for now they had their eyes on Shantire- and he was in the field with the Mages in the game. However, Makarov did know of his existence and the man had no doubt that the Wizard saint would transform into his Titan form and stomp his way to get revenge for "his brats" has he called them without a second thought of it came to that. The man chuckled at the thought as he sat back in his seat.

The man remembered the heat Natsu had used earlier and his face was set in a grim line- they were getting close, time was running out- so they had to move fast...

He peeked down at the Fairy Tail mages- he couldn't stop now, he would be able to to deal with them if the time came- granted it would be a struggle, but he had ways around that.

But the one he would have to worry about- he looked down- watching the very edge of the crowd, slightly above the rest and put of view enough so He wouldn't draw attention to himself-

He could see Koroku staring at the screen and knew it would only be a matter of time until he exploded, he looked back at the smoker behind him. "Go make sure that Koroku knows to stay out of this."

"He's not going to be happy about this you know?"

"I am fully aware of that." The man said as he sat back. The smoker left and he looked back at the screen, watching as the Fairy Tail Mages took in their new battlefield. "There's no other choice. We're running out of time."

In the corner of the room the meditating man spoke up and the man in the white robes raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that's a good idea? We've always had a hard time with Koroku, if he snaps we're not going to able to stop him..."

"Leave that to me- Koroku knows what must be done if we wish to prevail, and it comes as a good thing to him as well if we win so he will cooperate." The man said, "Never mind that- how are you holding up?"

"I'd be better if that kid stopped shooting out demonic like energy every time he gets into a tough spot. That thing is going to take advantage of the kid's weakness if he keeps that up." The man said, "The Wizard Saint from earlier wasn't helping either." The man scowled, "Neither was every light mage moving at once- warn me next time, will you?"

The man chuckled, "Forgive me- I didn't expect for Master Makarov to plan something like that." He peeked over at the meditator- "Can you see them?"

"I can see everyone. What am I looking for?" The man spoke, "You worried about the Fairy Tail Mages?"

"Just keep an eye on them- we can't let them get in the way of this fight."

The meditator peeked an eye open- but nodded silently.

...FT...

The five Fairy Tail mages stood in the endless room with a inch of water covering the floor. Natsu looked around the room and took a deep breath- fighting off the urge to pass out. Gray peeked over at the Fire Mage, "You holding up?"

"I'll make it."

Gray frowned- _bullshit-_ He wanted to snap, seeing how exhausted the Fire mage appeared to be. Instead he bit his lip and looked away a small growl escaping him, "Fine- but let's kick this guy's ass quickly."

"I agree with that." Erza stated as she looked over. The other mages noticed where she was looking and turned in the same direction.

In the "center" of the room stood Shantire in a black vest and pants with buckles and a demonic looking cloak. He stood in his spot and looked over at the mages with a amused look in his eyes. "If you wish to leave this place alive you have no choice but to defeat me Fairy Tail Mages."

 _And quickly-_ the mages added- sending a glimpse back at Natsu, who was breathing heavily. Natsu noticed the others watching him and nodded before standing up straight and taking a deep breath- trying to ignore the pain radiating through his body. "I'll be fine." He mumbled.

"You stay nearby one of us-" Erza said- looking ahead, "Or at least stay in our sight."

"I'll do the best I can." Natsu muttered.

They looked over at the Lord and scowled.

All five of them were covered with cuts and bruises (and Natsu was barely able to stand) while Shantire was in peak condition. Natsu looked over at the Lord and frowned. "This guy's a mage?"

"Not too surprising really." Gray said, "He did hire a bunch of dark mages. He would need something just in case of things went wrong."

Lucy peeked over and remained silent as she thought it over. _I always thought that he had been using money to pay them off (each Dark Guild did mention a cash prize). If he is a mage then how powerful is he?_ Lucy grabbed her keys- _and why can I not sense any magic from him despite being right here?_

Gajeel finished off the iron he was eating and turned his fist into an iron club with a grin. "Sounds like fun."

Erza requipped. Into her heart kreuz armor and summoned a blade. Gray stripped off his shirt (which amazingly he still had on).

Natsu looked at his shoulder wound and scowled, _why do these guys seem to be targeting my shoulder?_ He thought- slightly miffed at the thought. _At this rate it's never going to fully heal, maybe that's what they want..._ The Fire Mage scowled at the thought.He pressed his hand onto the wound and winced as he forced his flames to sear the wound close. He examined it for a moment, _it's gonna have to work-_ he thought, then grinned, "Alright then-" he slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. "I'm all fired up!"

The other mages smiled, glad to see that the Fire Mage still had the strength to fight.

Shantire stepped forward, "Now that you have taken the time to process what is happening, shall we begin?"

The Fairies didn't have a chance to respond before the barrage of attacks came at them and they all scattered to dodge the attacks.

"Let's go!" Natsu yelled and light his fist on fire.

...FT...

Koroku watched in silence as he stared up at the screen. Natsu was practically out of magic from his fight against Kortorzi. He took a closer look at the temporary fix up he had done to himself. It's not a bad idea- he did well, but there were some problems- _since it's fire it doesn't hurt him, but it also won't seat wounds as well as if he were to use it on someone else- that is not going to last long._

"Dammit you bastard, what are you thinking this time?" he growled and turned away, about to walk off- but stopped as he felt a familiar presence next to him, however he didn't turn and continued to glare ahead- waiting for the person to speak up.

After a moment, the person spoke- realizing that Koroku knew that he was there, "The big guy doesn't want you to get involved in this fight." Koroku finally peeked back- glaring at the smoker (instead of the wall). The smoker was sitting on the ledge of the arena wall and looked down at the people below.

Koroku scowled, "And why is that? Is he trying to get him killed?"

The smoker shrugged and looked up at the screen frowning. _Damn, the kid is in really bad shape._ He breathed out more smoke and looked over at Koroku, who looked like he was ready to kill someone. "No idea, boss's orders." Then he chuckled and looked away. "The kid isn't going to die. He'll be fine, have some faith, will you?"

Koroku visibly winced at that and looked away from the smoker and up to the screen. The smoker raised an eyebrow as the silence continued. _Guess I hit a soft spot... Who knew the guy had them?_

"The kid's gonna be fine, you and I both know that. He's tougher than he looks and he's not alone." he said as he reached over to a mug.

Koroku glared up at the lacrima vision- he knew what the boss was after- but that didn't mean that he liked it. "Dammit." he growled then looked over at the smoker- who was watching the fight- drinking from his mug.

Koroku sighed and sat on the wall next to the smoker. "Pass me some of that, will you?"

The smoker chuckled, but obliged. "I thought you don't drink."

"Times like these any man would drink." Koroku mumbled, "Besides, I don't get drunk."

The smoker chuckled, "I don't know whether to feel envy or pity right now." He said as he ordered a second mug for himself, adding a small, "We might need a third one for my friend here." Then turned to Koroku and held out a cigarette, "Want a smoke?"

Koroku took another sip- scrunching up his nose to the bitter taste. "I don't smoke." He spoke flatly.

And the smoker laughed.

...FT...

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu ran up swinging a punch at Shantire, why effortlessly grabbed his wrist- making him miss his mark.

Shantire twisted Natsu's arm, causing Natsu to yelp added got pain stabbed through his shoulder. "Is this really the power of a Dragon Slayer?" Shantire held up his hand with what looked like black fire licking around it. It almost reminded Natsu of Zancrow's fire, but much fowler _,_ "How pathetic." the man sneered, "I expected more from you..." he said then attacked, bringing his hand to Natsu's face in a claw like motion.

 _I can't let that hit me!_ All of Natsu's scenes screamed as Shantire attacked and he bent backwards. It was an odd angle, but he managed to dodge the spell- by mere inches and he frowned as his cheek started to feel slightly numb. The Fire Mage scowled and quickly slapped his cheek to get the feeling back into it. Natsu came back up and grabbed Shantire's out stretched arm. "Gotcha bastard." Natsu growled then he twisted around and threw Shantire over his shoulder and in Erza's direction.

Erza requipped into her Heavens Wheel armor and ran forward, "Pentagram Sword!" She yelled and slashed her swords in a star formation, catching the Lord in mid-air.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel attacked and at the same time Lucy pulled out her key.

"Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!" Lucy yelled and the Celestial Spirit appeared.

"I say bring it!" Scorpio yelled and attacked. His torrent of sand combining with Gajeel's breath attack.

Gajeel scowled, but he had to admit that Bunny Girl's attack did make his (a little) stronger. He turned in Natsu's direction, "Now Salamander!" He yelled.

Natsu stepped and inhaled as much as he could, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" his attack combined with the already unison raid and the three attacks struck Shantire.

Gray stepped forward, looking into the cloud of dust, "Did we get him?"

Gajeel scowled, "That would be way too easy." the Iron Dragon Slayer growled, holding up his club while he scanned the debris for Shantire.

Seven different magic seals popped out of nowhere and a beam of light shot out and struck Natsu square in the chest, throwing the Dragon Slayer back with a pained cry.

"Natsu!" Erza yelled as Natsu crashed into the ground and lay still as more beams of light shot towards his unmoving form.

"Natsu!"

Before the attack struck Gajeel stepped next to Natsu and grabbed him, moving him out of the way just in time. _That was close_ -Gajeel thought at he looked at the smoldering crater where Natsu had once been then looked down at the unconscious Dragon Slayer he was holding. He felt something warm and wet and was able to smell blood coming from the Dragon Slayer. He frowned then looked back at Shantire and growled, "You better not die on me Salamander."

The Fire Mage didn't respond.

"Keep moving!" Gray yelled, as he dodged more attacks. Gajeel moved behind Gray as the Ice Mage created a shield to block Shantire's attacks, and their breath was caught in their throats as the shield cracked from Shantire's attack, but it still held.

Natsu groaned and shifted. Gajeel noticed this and put him down, "You gonna live?"

"I'm cut up pretty bad." Natsu mumbled and pushed himself up, "Don't let that attack hit you- it really hurts."

Gray smirked, "I'll keep that in mind." the Ice Mage said, "Move!" He yelled as the shield broke.

Everyone scattered as several shots flew out, making everything look like a war zone. "Don't stop moving!" Ezra ordered, "You'll only make yourself an easy target!"

"Right!" Lucy ran, making sure not to have a pattern. She frowned at the water on the floor. _If only I had Aquarius-_ but she didn't almost as if this water was on the ground just to tease her. She ducked her head and ran faster as several explosions went off near her, not noticing the little shriek that she let out as she ran.

"You okay Luce!" Natsu yelled, peeking over to see if he could catch a glimpse of the Celestial Mage before he was forced to dodge several explosions in his area. _Dammit this is getting exhausting!_ Natsu thought and listened for an answer.

"I'm fine!" Lucy called out and the Dragon Slayer nodded. Before having to jump over another explosion- his chest screaming in pain- but he didn't dare look at it, knowing that it was probably really bad.

Suddenly a ring of light shot out- hitting all five mages and exploded. Natsu felt himself crash into the ground then he picked himself up and looked over at the others, who were also dragging themselves to their knees. Each of them were covered in countless wounds and Natsu could feel the temporary mend that he did on his shoulder begin to tear.

Then the barrage of attacks came, pinning them down and making them more injured by the second. _Dammit these explosions aren't even fire!_ The Dragon Slayer heard Lucy cry out, "Dammit!" Natsu yelled and forced himself past the pain and ran forward. He ran up to Shantire- barely dodging two attacks and drew his fist back. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He yelled and punched Shantire in the jaw then he immediately kicked, "Claw!" Instead of stopping Natsu continued attacking, not giving the Lord a chance for a counter attack. "Crushing Fang! Sword Horn! Wing Attack! Flame Elbow!" He continued his attacks, feeling the draining effect I'm his already worn out body. However, he pushed ahead- knowing the longer he kept attacking, the longer his friends had to get back up. "Crimson Lotus! Exploding Flame Blade!" The attack struck and Natsu's knees buckled.

 _Damn, I'm out of magic._ Natsu's knees crashed painfully into. The ground and he looked up at the cloud of debris in front of him, _Did I get him?_ His eyes widened in horror as a beam of light shot out of the debris and towards him- aiming at his head. The Fire Mage attempted to stand- but he found that he couldn't move as he watched the beam of light come closer.

 _Dammit-_

Suddenly Erza stepped in front of him and parried the blow with her sword. "Natsu are you alright?"

Natsu frowned and looked at himself, his eyesight was starting to get blurry- he blinked, trying to force it away then looked up at the requip mage. "A little low on magic." He said and attempted to pushed himself up, Erza watched- her face etched with worry as she helped pull the Fire Mage to his feet. "I can still fight."

Erza checked on Shantire's position then peeked back worryingly- knowing just how low Natsu's magic was. _It's dangerous for him to keep fighting- if this keeps up he's going to pass out._ She frowned but slowly nodded- knowing that telling the Dragon Slayer no was pointless and knocking him out was far too dangerous in their current situation. Natsu would be in more danger if she knocked him out then if she stayed close while he fought- and if he collapsed they would have to be sure to move him back to safety-

There were too many ifs in this fight. She scowled then looked forward holding up her sword- _We can do this! We have to!_

"Let's go!" All five ran forward- dodging beams of light and attacking Shantire.

...FT...

Makarov watched silently as the battle continued. He wasn't able to sense any of their magics through the lacrima, but he knew that they were running low on magic just by how exhausted the mages looked, and Natsu- he clenched his fist as Natsu wobbled dangerously, but he was able to keep standing at the last minute- but it turned his attention away from Shantire, nearly getting hit if Gray hadn't dragged him out of the way in time.

Natsu was out, even though technically he had started the fight against Shantire with next to no magic in the first place. If they were going to win this fight they needed to pool everything that they got into it- and if they didn't- Makarov stopped- knowing full well what would happen if they didn't. Wherever they were there was no way the Master could send extra help to protect Natsu, and something told him that the black cloaked man from before would not be able to help him in there either.

 _Hold on brats_.

Down below Sting watched the lacrima as team Fairy Tail got knocked down only to get right back up to keep on attacking. "I've got to hand it to them." Orga said, "They sure are stubborn."

"Yes, but for how long?" Rufus said. "If memory serves me correctly Team Fairy Tail is low on magic from fighting those monsters in the previous round and from our plan against the Dark Guilds." He peeked over at the rest of Fairy Tail guild, who were cheering as loud as they could. "However, Shantire is in top shape."

"That's never stopped them before." Sting quickly said, not taking his eyes off the screen for even an instant. Once again, the Fairy Tail Mages were knocked to the ground and the audience's guts twisted as another attack shot in Natsu's direction the Fire Dragon Slayer looked up in time to see the attack and launched himself to the right with a Fire Dragon's Roar.

The crowd winced as the pinkette crashed into the ground and watched as he landed a foot flat on the ground- rolling to a standing position and ran at Shantire.

Shantire easily blocked two of the Mages fiery punches and a kick before he struck, punching Natsu in the stomach and throwing him at least twenty yards back, only to be immediately under attack from Erza, with Gray attacking from behind.

Gajeel stepped in front of the downed Dragon Slayer and held his position as Lucy moved back to check on Natsu, who was pushing himself up, and was clutching his stomach.

After a moment- and a small nod from the pinkette- Lucy helped the Fire Mage stand and they- along with Gajeel joined the fight.

Rogue frowned _Shantire doesn't even have a scratch on him-_ "Sting-" Rogue spoke up.

"They'll be fine." Sting cut in- and after a moment Rogue nodded.

Macao looked over at the Guild Master, "I didn't know Shantire was a Mage- I didn't even feel magic coming from him, and yet he's incredibly powerful." The older fire mage looked back at the screen. "It's weird."

 _A lot about these games have been "weird."_ Makarov found himself thinking.

Romeo peeked over at his father. "They can win, right? I mean that's Fairy Tail's strongest team, right? Also, Natsu-nii is with them-"

"They'll be fine." Macao encouraged.

On the screen Erza pushed herself to her knees and glared at Shantire. Then another ring of light shot out- throwing them all back once more and adding to their wounds. Makarov frowned, "Just stay alive brats."

...FT...

Gray was able to push himself to his knees and he cursed, his body was shaking and he was out of magic. He looked around at the others and could tell that they were in the same situation as himself. Natsu was easily the worst out of them all- his shoulder wound had reopened- not to mention the wounds that Shantire were still bleeding heavily, and he was visibly pale. Whether it was the fact that he was probably in the negative when it came to magic or blood loss he couldn't tell- probably both. "You holding in there Flamebrain?"

"I've been better." Natsu mumbled and peeked back over at Gray- making the Ice Mage even more worried. For the Fire Mage to actually admit that something was wrong meant he was in worse shape than he looked. Natsu blinked and his vision still wasn't any better making him realize just bad of shape he was in by how blurry his eyesight was getting. He could barely see the Ice Mage, then he looked away and attempted to clear his vision- and only succeeding in making himself dizzier.

Gray watched as Natsu looked back at his shaking arms- clearly starting to go out of it and he scowled. He watched as Natsu dangerously wobbled and he felt his gut clench as Natsu almost hit the ground, but managed to catch himself at the last minute. Gray watched for a moment, just in case he needed to move quickly, "Just hold on pyro." he said then glared at Shantire as he spoke up.

The group tensed up as the Lord spoke- glaring at him as he walked forward. "Is this all that you can manage Fairy Tail?" Shantire mused as he approached Natsu- looking down at the Dragon Slayer who clearly had not noticed him yet. "This is the most powerful mage guild in Fiore?" He kicked the Dragon Slayer over and Gray felt his body flare with anger as Natsu cried out as he crashed into the ground- jarring his injured shoulder. "I must say- I expected more from you." Shantire spoke- looking down at Natsu who hadn't moved and was focused on breathing, since each breath sent a painful wave through his body. "Especially since the life of one of your own's is on the line."

"Damn you." Erza cursed at him as she fought against her aching body that was ready to quit. "Leave him alone you scumbag." The Fairy Queen cursed as she saw Natsu go completely limp- do doubt unable to fight the exhaustion any more. "You lay a hand on him and I'll- no the whole guild will-"

Shantire looked over at the redhead before kneeling down next to the Dragon Slayer, "Now don't be rude, scumbag is such a harsh word." he interrupted as he reached out and slightly pushed on Natsu- giving the Mages a glance at his face, which was tense with pain- despite being unconscious. "All this for one person? To me that seems like a waste of time." He released the Dragon Slayer and Natsu let out a small whimper as Shantire gave him one more shove with his foot as he stood up. "It would've been easier on all of if you had let him die after the fight with the Death Cloud. Because now I have to waste my own time and energy to kill him- and if I'm going to do that I might as well have some fun with this-" The Lord said, "Well it will be fun for me at least- your friend might not like it as much-"

Lucy tried to push herself up but she couldn't move more than a few inches before her limbs gave out on her and she fell back to the ground. "Don't touch him!" The Celestial Mage yelled as loud as she could.

Shantire peeked over at the Celestial Mage and smirked. "Do you know what happens to those that get in my way? Because of you Fairies I'm not in such a good mood." He spoke then turned his focus back on Natsu- but still continued to speak. "Mages of today's day and age are such brats, not even some much as a you're welcome." Shantire spoke as he used his foot to roll Natsu onto his side, this time Natsu was too deep in unconsciousness to notice. "After all, you could say that I'm going you all a favor- this boy only brings about death to those who are near him-"

"No!" Lucy yelled, "That's not true! He doesn't!" Shantire looked over- his expression appearing mildly surprised, "He brings laughter!" She pushed herself-to hell with how tired she was- to a standing position, showing her guild mark. "Because of him I am in the guild. I was able to find my family- my happiness! I found the life that I wanted to live! And no matter what he's never given up on me! He's saved my life so many times-" She drew her whip and took a step forward filled with new determination. "I won't let you kill him!"

The room was silent for a moment.

Gray frowned- thinking back on how Natsu was willing to fight the monster that had ravaged his hometown- killed his teacher. How Natsu had stopped him from using Iced Shell because he wanted him to stay alive- despite the fact that he had been certain that it was the only way that they were going to get out of there alive.

Erza remembered the Tower of Heaven, how hard Natsu had fought for her to defeat Jellal- later on to accept him as an ally once more. How he had fought so hard for her life, and later on in Fantasia how his only request was to keep her promise and stay alive.

Gajeel scowled- thinking back on what the idiot had said. He had been willing to call a truce on someone who had just destroyed his guild just because he was a Dragon Slayer- then later on when he joined the guild Natsu was pretty quick to accept him- despite him refusing earlier that day. "Dammit." He growled but the three of them found themselves standing up to fight some more.

"If only you had stayed down." Shantire snarled and walked past Natsu- who still hadn't moved- and towards them. The Fairy Tail Mages held their positions as the Lord approached, "Very well- I shall kill Natsu Dragneel after I rid you fools of the world." He held up his hand- black flame appearing into it.

Erza held up her sword- relieved that the Lord had stepped away from Natsu- but she knew that the relief would be short lived unless she found a way to beat him. The Requip Mage eyed the flame in Shantire's hands- _why do I get a bad feeling off that flame?_

Suddenly the room exploded with the same flame and Shantire appeared in front of her Erza raised her sword and attacked-

Except she hadn't moved.

Shantire raised a hand. "Don't be a fool- you mages don't stand against me- I know magic that you couldn't even dream of brats."

...FT...

Natsu floated in an empty void- his eyes closed as he tried to figure out where he was. _Wasn't I fighting somebody? Oh right- Shantire, he turned out to be a mage-_ Natsu forced his eyes open as he looked around the darkness surrounding him. "What happened?" He sat up and looked around- straining his ears to listen for anything around him- but he was meet with nothing but silence.

Something glowed behind him and the Dragon Slayer peeked back- staring at the door behind him, a shiver running down his spine as the pure hateful aura leaked out of the door and he stood up, but remained where he was.

"I won't let you kill him!" Lucy's voice yelled and Natsu jumped- looking around.

"Lucy?" He called out- but there was no response.

Except for a moment later a darker voice spoke up. " **They sound pretty determined to protect you."**

Natsu peeked over at the door- he was fairly sure that's where the voice had come from. "Who's there?"

 **"However, they will be killed- your enemy is no normal mage, there is something off about him. I can't quite place it- but I have felt it before. He cannot die- but your friends can."** The voice said with a chuckle.

Natsu scowled, "Then let me out of here you bastard."

 **"You're far too weak- you won't stand a chance."** The voice said, **"Even if he is not normal- a mage is a mage- and you are out of magic-"**

"Then I'll pull some from tomorrow- now let me the hell out of here!"

The voice was silent for a moment before it spoke. **"If that's what you want..."**

...FT...

Koroku frowned as he looked at the screen- Natsu still had not moved, and his friends weren't going to last much longer. Once they were out of the way there was nothing that was going to be able to stop Shantire from killing Natsu. _Just exactly is that bastards plan?_ He thought then peeked over at the smoker- which to anybody else it would appear that he had fallen asleep, but he knew better.

"Just relax- it'll be fine." The smoker said from under his hat.

"If anything happens to Natsu then I will kill you, remember that." Koroku snarled.

"Yeah yeah."

Koroku caught something in the corner of his eye and he looked back- his eyes widening in shock- next to him he smoker sat up, "Well will you take a look at that?" He mumbled as the two of them stared-

At the dark red flames surrounding Natsu.

...FT...

Shantire looked around amused at the battered Fairy Tail mages, "What? Where did that new determination go?" He peeked over at Natsu- who still hadn't moved from where he had fallen- and spoke with a smirk etched across his face. "Truth be told I'm starting to get bored with you fools- maybe I should-"

Erza appeared in front of him and kicked him back. "You stay away from him you filth." The redhead growled, and landed- putting herself between Shantire and Natsu and drew her sword. "It does not matter how injured we are- we will not let you lay a finger on him!" She snarled.

"Then I will have no choice but to kill you all." Shantire said and suddenly the room exploded in black fire once again- and the Mages felt as if they could not move their bodies. The room was quiet and Shantire appeared in front of the Fairy Queen- her own sword appearing in his hand and he struck her with it- then a beam of light shot out and hit Lucy (who had been the closest.)- throwing the Celestial Mage back.

Shantire let out another ring of light- striking the other two who had been about to attack from behind. He took a moment to fix his clothes then he looked around the room at the wounded mages. "To think I wasted my time-" a ball of light appeared in his hands, "Now you fools can all die."

Erza stared at the ball of light in the Lord's hands- the amount of magic energy coming out of that thing was impossible- she didn't even sense that much magic in Shantire's body. _If we're hit with that we're dead!_

Shantire held out his hand- about ready to let off the attack. "Die you fools."

 _"No."_

Shantire stopped and looked over at Natsu who was coming to- with a dark fire flickering around him, Gray's eyes widened as he took the scene in- _just like in the fight against Dallas!_ Gray realized in shock. He watched as Natsu pushed himself off the ground a few inches- his body shaking with pain.

"No-" Natsu slammed his fist into the ground- cracking the earth below him and shakily pushed himself up- his breathing ragged and he was covered in sweat as he took deep breaths, his body in obvious pain. "No- way in hell." He snarled, "I won't let you hurt them." He growled as he panted- gasping for breath, despite it being painful, "I'm-"

Images flashed in the Dragon Slayer's mind- a fuzzy view of a woman shielding him from an attack. Simon protecting him and Erza from Jellal. Future Lucy dying in the palace. Igneel-

Igneel falling to the ground, the dragon's side ripped out, and a bright light consuming the Fire Dragon King. "I- I'm not watching anybody else die!" He yelled and stood up- glaring at Shantire with angry red eyes, the fire around him doubling in size.

Shantire's eyes widened as he looked at the Dragon Slayer, turning in the Fire Mage's direction. "That power-"

"Now!" Gray forced as much energy as he could into standing and pooled the last few drops of magic he had together to let off one more attack. _This is it!_ "Ice Make Floor!" He froze the water around Shantire's feet trapping the Lord in place. Shantire looked back at the Ice Mage- who sneered definitely.

Erza requipped into her Heavens Wheel armor and ran up as fast as she could- swords appearing in her hands as she did so- _this is our last chance!_ Her mind screamed and she attacked- cutting and throwing Shantire as she flew past him as fast as she could, but he didn't go far because Lucy's whip grabbed him- wrapping around his wrist in mid-air.

"I don't have any magic left- but I can still do this!" The Celestial Mage yelled and pulled as hard as she could on the whip, twisting and pulling the Lord over her shoulder and back- straight into Black Steeled Gajeel's iron fist.

"Now Salamander!" Gajeel yelled as he threw the stunned Lord forward and towards the Fire Dragon Slayer.

The Lord seemed to recover enough to realize where he was doing and he raised his hand into the air, all of a sudden, he vanished from where he was in mid-air and reappeared to the side of them- safely on his feet and attacked- aiming towards the pink-haired mage.

Shantire shot a beam of light in Natsu's direction, "Shit." The Iron Dragon Slayer growled and moved as fast as he could stepping in between the attack and Natsu- turning his fist into an iron club. The light shot out and Gajeel was able to use his iron club to knock it off course- making the spell miss the Fire Mage by five feet but is also successfully shattered his extended club and the Iron Dragon Slayer cursed as he returned his hand back to normal- broken no doubt. Gajeel scowled at his busted up hand- flexing his hand to judge how well it still worked, then turned in Natsu's direction-easily stepping to the side so he wasn't in the way. _This better work dammit- because I've got no more magic to create another one of those!_

Natsu took a deep breath and ran forward- his body screaming in protest- but his mind had shut it off- ignoring the protesting and he only moved faster closing the distance between the two of them. He felt his knees bend and he jumped into the air- feeling his feet land on something solid halfway up. Behind him, Gray used Ice Hammer to launch him forward. Natsu felt the launch forward and he dragged out more magic- not too sure where it was coming from- he felt empty, yet he still felt magic pooling into him- and another thing-

Anger- he looked at Shantire and his body was filled with a rage he had never felt before, but it fueled him- sending him forward to fight. Making his fire burn hotter than ever before.

Gajeel felt the heat as Natsu shot by- forcing the Iron Dragon Slayer to move farther back to avoid the heat. _Where the hell is this heat coming from?_ Gajeel scowled, _last time I checked he had been completely out of magic... now he seems stronger than before_.

Erza struck Shantire's back, dulling Shantire's reflexes and Lucy tightened her grip on her whip- holding the Lord in place, "Now go!" Erza yelled and stepped out of the way.

Shantire could only stare in shock as the Dragon Slayer came at him. _How is this possible- I was just a moment from winning a few seconds ago!_ His mind screamed at him as Natsu came in closer. _Where did they get this new power from?_ He focused on the Dragon Slayer's eyes, which were still red, but filled with Natsu's normal determination. _Is it him?_

Dragon scales appeared on Natsu's face, arms, and legs as he shot at Shantire with the form of a dragon behind him. "Hidden Fire Form!" He yelled as he slammed into Shantire, "Crimson Lotus Phoenix Blade!"

Lucy let go of the whip as the force sent Natsu and Shantire flying through the air for at least a hundred yards. The fire around Natsu took the shape of a phoenix and after a loud roar there was a huge explosion- sending out a shockwave, throwing steam and dust up into the air as it cracked the ground- the water had fully drained revealing carving in the ground and Lucy's eyes widened as she recognized the markings. _I've read of those before- there over four hundred years old- there a dead language... why are they here?_

She didn't get too much time to think back on it before the shockwave hit them and they were thrown back. Crashing into the ground where they pushed themselves up looking and listening for any sign of their friend in the ruckus.

...FT...

Makarov's fist clenched as the lacrima vision lost sight of Natsu. Around him the rest of the guild seemed to hold their breaths as the cameras started.

Macao leaned forward to try and look at the lacrima, "Dammit I can't see him through the dust- or steam or whatever that is..."

"Probably both knowing him..." Wakuba mumbled, but still was studying the lacrima alongside his friend.

Mira frowned worryingly and Elfman called, "He'll be fine- cause Natsu's a man!"

Happy shifted on his feet as time passed with no sign of his friend, "Natsu?"

"He'll be fine." Pantherlily spoke, putting his paw on the blue Exceed's shoulder to comfort him, "He's been through several tough situations like this- he'll be fine. Besides Gajeel and the others are there with him."

"He's right- there's no need to worry tomcat." Carla spoke from where Wendy was holding her. "They'll be back with us causing more ruckus before you even know it."

Wendy nodded, "And when they get back I'll heal any wounds that they have so they can be back on their feet even faster!"

"Settle down child." Carla spoke up to the Sky Dragon Slayer. Then she looked back over at Happy, "Natsu will pull through just fine."

Happy nodded, "Aye." Then he looked back at the screen. The Blue Exceed stood tall and watched the screen, "Natsu will be fine."

Makarov smiled then looked ahead at the screen. _They're right- I just need to believe in my brats- they'll come back to us safe and sound, all of them._ The Guild Master thought to himself as he watched the scene.

He frowned, thinking back to what he had seen earlier. _those marking that were on the floor..._ His jaw was set as he watched the screen. The Master knew what those markings were for, but such a thing shouldn't be possible- and yet there they were, plain as day.

The Master's fist clenched as he stood still, waiting for the debris to settle. _Who in this day and age could have such a power? Shantire? No, he's strong, but this isn't him._

Makarov peeked over the top of the audience, into the third window. _Him maybe?_

...FT...

Koroku took another sip of his beer and leaned forward on the wall of the arena. Next to him the smoke took a deep breath in- before releasing it silently. Then he looked over at Koroku. "Keep in mind- if you start moving then I'm gonna have to tackle yah to the ground. And that's gonna be a pain in the ass-"

"Then, why do it?"

The smoker looked away, "Good point- boss's orders. They're a pain in the ass but he's the boss." The smoker looked over, "Besides if I let you go now who knows what that temper of yours would do."

"If you're referring to that incident with Ivan that man is still alive."

"The boss is pissed either way."

Koroku scoffed and looked away with a little, "That idiot started it." Then he looked back at the screen as the dust began to settle. _Come on Natsu-_ The man remained silent- but the smoker watched as his body tensed up.

The smoker looked back at the screen. _You idiot- if anything happens to that kid you're the first one he's coming after._ The smoker thought as he peeked over at Koroku, _and I wouldn't be able to stop him- even if I tried..._ The smoker sighed and leaned forward, "He'll be at three o'clock about fifty meters up in the third window if you decide to shoot." the smoker said with a sigh as he took another big gulp and letting out a pleased huff.

The smoker didn't look- he didn't have to in order to see Koroku nod.

...FT...

The mages stood waiting for any news as the dust began to clear. Listening for any news. Lucy peeked back at the ground staring at the symbols then she blinked and the symbols were gone. _What were those doing here- how would Shantire know magic that old?_ She shook her head- _I need to focus_. She looked over at the dust cloud (too thick to see through). "Natsu?" Lucy called out- hoping for a response- but there was none.

Erza took a step foward, her armor going back into her normal Heart Kreuz armor, but her eyes stayed glued to the scene in front of her. Waiting for any news- good or bad.

Gray took a deep breath but didn't move from where he stood, almost holding his breath as he surveyed the scene for any movement while behind him Gajeel used his Dragon Slayer hearing to check for any sounds that could alert him on what was going on- but all he was meet with was silence.

Silence filled the room and soon the dust settled and the mages were finally able to get a view of the seance.

Both mages were in a pit that Natsu's attack had made. Shantire was on the ground- defeated and unconscious- covered in burns- cuts and bruises while he laid on the ground with his eyes rolled back and Natsu stood over him, breathing heavily, covered in equally as much wounds as the other mage. His vision was beyond fuzzy and pain hit his body in waves as he coughed. Then he looked at what he assumed to be that shape of Shantire and grinned- but it was more of a grimace as another wave of pain shot through his body. "We win." He said defiantly then frowned silently to himself as he felt his body go numb and his head felt light and fluttery. He didn't feel any of the pain and he was having a hard time focusing on anything as he stood- staring at the same spot.

The Mages jumped as Shantire seemed to disappear into thin air and they tensed up- looking around to see if he would reappear somewhere else- completely unharmed still ready to fight. Gajeel scowled taking a good sniff of the air, "He's gone- although-" The Iron Dragon Slayer stopped- not too sure how to explain what was going on- none of it made any sense to him.

Natsu stared at the spot where Shantire had been quietly. _That's weird- I can't sense him- even though I know that he was right here. It's like he never even existed in the first place but I sensed him while we were fighting him and during the whole games like he was a real person._ His Thoughts became fuzzy and his vision (or what was barely left of it) became worse and he felt himself falling, _damn-_ then Natsu's thoughts stopped and the last thing he remembered was falling before his vision went black.

And the mages watched as Natsu gave a dangerous wobble and their stomachs clenched as he collapsed into an unmoving heap on the floor with a sickening _thud_.

"Natsu!"

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **...FT...**

 **Finally, Shantire is down! There is only one more chapter left in this story but if you guys still want more I do have plans for more books at the ready!**

 **Feel free to review! And if you can I need and answer ASAP.**

 **No Flame Plz**

 **'Til next time!**


	17. Chapter 16

**This is it- the Final Chapter!**

 _ **There will be a second book!**_

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 **Thanks for all the reviews from-**

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 **I'm glad you all like it!**

 **Thanks so much for sticking through this whole story (well only book one) This was fun to write!**

 **Feel free to review!**

 **But no flames plz!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **...FT...**

Porlyusica scowled- looking down at the unconscious Dragon Slayer. "Damn fool has pushed himself too hard again." she said as she glared over at the unconscious Dragon Slayer, "These serious wounds are not helping."

"Is he going to be alright?" Lucy asked.

"You just worry about your own injuries." The medic snapped. It was true- all five of them had so many bandages all over them they could've walked into a Halloween party and fit right in. The medic looked back at Makarov. "He was already at no magic and he was stupid enough to try and pull that powerful of an attack? Plus, as I've said earlier his wounds had also weakened him greatly- to a point that any normal person would've been killed. He's lucky to be alive."

Makarov sighed and looked over at the sleeping form. _Of course, he would push himself that hard._ He thought while suppressing another sigh, "How long until he wakes up?"

"Today or tomorrow." The medic answered, "All we can do now is let him rest." She turned to the old man. "But you will need to have a talk with him."

The Master frowned.

"His body will not be able to keep up with him if he keeps pushing himself like that. If this keeps up he will seriously injure- if not kill himself." Porlyusica stated.

"Very well. I will speak with him." Makarov said- not that it would do much good. _He just had to hope that Natsu realized just how important his life was to those around him and that he needed to take care of himself._

"Good."

Makarov looked over at Natsu sleeping face- peaceful and rid of pain. _Something tells me that this mess isn't over yet- not by a long shot._

...FT...

Lucy walked into the room and stared down at the sleeping Dragon Slayer- examining him as he took a shaky breath and let out a mumble in his sleep. "Is he alright?"

Porlyusica looked over at the Celestial Mage, "His body is trying to regain the magic that he lost, he's not going to wake up until he is at a safer level of magic. It may take a few hours." She said- finishing as the Master walked in. "Shouldn't you be worried about this Shantire fellow?"

Makarov peeked over at the Medic, "There's been no sign of him since the final round- all the Dark Guilds have seem to run as well. Laxus is right outside just in case." He looked down at the sleeping Fire Mage.

"If you're going to have that face get out. All your worrying isn't going to help him." The medic snapped, "He'll live, he just needs to sleep to regain his energy."

Makarov sighed and nodded. "Will he be awake by tomorrow?"

"That will be up to him." Porlyusica said as she worked on whatever she was working on at the moment.

Lucy peeked back over at Natsu, "You really need to kick the habit of coming in here." She chuckled, reaching out and flicked some of the hair out of his face, "I'll go let the others know, they're worried."

"This is why I hate humans."

Lucy sighed as she walked out of the room.

Erza peeked over, "How is he?"

"Sleeping." The Celestial Mage said as she sat down, "What about Shantire?"

"He completely disappeared after Natsu defeated him, Backenstall as well."

Lucy peeked over at Cana (who had answered her). "Really?"

The brunette took another gulp of her drink, "Yup, he left all the Light Guilds a check though- so at least he remembered not to skip out on the bill."

"I get why Shantire ran, but why Backenstall?"

"Gramps didn't trust Backenstall when all this started." Gray said with a scowl.

Cana sighed, "Gray- your clothes-"

"Wha-" The Ice Mage looked down at himself, "Dammit! Where'd they go!" He yelled as he stomped off to find his clothing.

Lucy peeked over at Erza, "Wait was Backenstall working with Shantire the whole time?"

"It's a possibility." The redhead said as she was looking at the room Natsu was sleeping in. Then she looked at Lucy and the Celestial Mage gulped, "We'll be sure to ask him when we find him."

Lucy nodded, no doubt that Fairy Tail would find both Lords.

...FT...

The smoker walked down the hall as fast as he could and shoved the door open. "The kid's up, they are moving him to the hotel." The smoker said as he walked up to the man in the white robes.

The blonde man nodded, "I assume Backenstall has paid them off already?"

"Yup."

"How many of the Light Guilds are staying for the night?"

The smoker peeked over, "All of them it would seem-" he heard a grunt behind him, "They all seem worried for the kid."

"And what of the Dark Guilds?"

"They ran with their tails between their legs." The smoker answered as he looked around.

The blonde man nodded then looked over at the meditating man. "Tonight, all but the five lodges the Light Guilds are staying in. You can erase those in the morning, we should at least let them sleep with a roof over their heads."

"Well aren't you in a good mood." The smoker teased.

Behind him the meditating man let out a sigh of relief, "Good. I've been keeping the same spell for two weeks now, I'm starting to get cramped up."

"Forgive me- but your power was necessary to make this work." He looked around, "As was Koroku's- you all have my thanks." The blonde man in the white robes said.

The smoker frowned, "You definitely owe Koroku an explanation."

"You owe me too you bastard."

...FT...

Natsu didn't even remember walking to the inn- someone must've carried him because he was fairly sure that he would remember walking into the room and passing out on the bed. Or maybe he was just too exhausted to remember.

However, when he awoke he had his shoes off and he was under the covers. Daylight streamed into the room through the curtains, and Natsu found the light almost annoying. He groaned and rolled over, immediately focusing on the worried face of Makarov sitting in the chair next to his bed. Natsu sat up and groaned- _dammit, my head's killing me..._ "How long have I been asleep?"

"In this building? Sixteen hours." The Master said, "Total? A little over twenty hours." Then the old man studied Natsu's face as he seemed to be still trying to wake up fully. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Just a little tired." Natsu looked over at the Master, noting the look on the old man's face, "Did we beat Shantire?"

"Yes- we won." Makarov stated, "Although we were struggling with your recovery for a while there." The Master said and Natsu frowned, "You had run your body into the ground pushing yourself the way you did."

Natsu remained quiet letting the old man continued, "I'm just relieved that you're alright."

Natsu grinned then spoke up, "How about the others?"

"They'll be fine, the others are already moving around, they're more worried about you." The Master said.

"Was I really in that bad of shape?"

"Between all the injuries you had received and your body desperately trying to regain magical energy, yes you were. Normally your fire would help you recover quickly- but you had none." The Master explained.

"Oh."

Makarov watched as the Dragon Slayer seemed to absorb the information and he felt that the Fire Mage was aware what he was saying. If not he was sure that Porlyusica was going to remind him later.

Natsu frowned and looked over to the window, "The town's pretty quiet."

Makarov slowly nodded, Look out the window."

Natsu peeked over at the Master with a confused frown before nodding, slowly forcing himself up- wobbling on his feet for a moment. Then he sighed, slightly annoyed at how exhausted he felt and made his way over to the window- only needing to use the wall for balance once. Finally, he made it to the window with a relieved sigh and pushed aside the curtains and stared into a thick forest.

There was no town.

"What?"

"We woke up this morning and the entire town, besides the buildings the guilds were lodging in had vanished.." Makarov spoke easily, Natsu noticed this he frowned and walked over to the Master.

"We need to find-"

"Do not bother my boy." Makarov said and stood up, "I have already spoke with the rest of the guild. We were going to leave as soon as you had awoken- this building won't be around much longer I'd imagine."

Natsu stepped in front of the Master as he was about to walk away, "But what about the town and the towns people- we're Fairy Tail, we can't just leave them. We have to s-"

"Natsu." The Master interrupted- and Natsu jumped at the serious tone in his voice, immediately silencing him. The Master sighed then looked back up at the pink haired Fire Mage, "There was never an Indum of Two Territories."

...FT...

"The entire town was an illusion?" Lucy asked as Mages sat on the train. She stared out the window seeing the tiny train station that had been in the middle of nowhere for the few farms that were scattered around- that was the only thing in the whole "town".

"Apparently." Gray said, peeking back at where they had come from, "Explains how we knew nothing about the place despite it being pretty big."

Lucy frowned, "But Mira knew about it."

"Only from what I read off the flier." the Take Over Mage spoke up and Lucy sweat dropped.

"So, we didn't know anything of the place and we accepted a request that was already seriously suspicious?" She sighed. "Go figure."

Erza nodded, "Illusions within illusions." Erza examined her bandaged wrist, "The whole thing was a fake- and yet our wounds are real. Whoever this man is must be quite powerful." She turned to the Master, "What should we do now Master?"

"Unfortunately, if we do anything we're fighting against an enemy that we have no information about." The Master spoke and looked over at the seats that were occupied by the sick Dragon Slayers. "Whatever is going on hasn't ended just because the games have ended- nor do I think that this had begun at the beginning of these games..."

Erza looked over at the Master in question- waiting for the older man to speak once more.

Makarov frowned and stood up, "However sitting around and waiting for their next move will do us no good- we will continue on, but be wary that an enemy is still out there."

Erza silently nodded and sat back- watching as the master walked off.

...FT...

A young man with black hair laid back in the grass with his eyes closed listening as the breeze rustled the grass around him- faintly tickling the side of his neck. He heard light footsteps walk up to him and stop- then after a moment of silence a female voice spoke up, "You're just asking to get mugged you know?"

"This is a peaceful area." The young man spoke and opened his charcoal grey eyes looking at the girl.

Cyrus frowned down at the Black Mage, "For a supposed genius you really are an idiot aren't you. The so called peaceful places is where all the trouble starts- especially since no one is going to feel threatened by someone who barely even looks twenty. And I use twenty lightly." She said, "So are you gonna lie there all day or what?"

"You took part in those games, didn't you?"

"You and I both know that those weren't games." Cyrus scowled, "Zeref."

Zeref sighed and sat up, "Fujimi?"

"Yup looks like that old bastard is making his move." Cyrus said, "I stayed around long enough to check up on the seal of E.N.D. I couldn't stay too long though, they were starting to notice me. It's probably safe to say that they noticed me instantly though."

Zeref peeked back but didn't say anything.

"Should I guess that you know who is on their side- must be difficult fighting against your-"

"That man is nothing but a memory."

"Sure- just like your brother- isn't that why you tried to warn him?" Cyrus said then looked away, "Or is that your 'I want to die' side talking?"

Zeref remained silent and Cyrus sighed, "Fine whatever. I'll keep an eye on that idiot for you." She smirked and pointed at the Fairy Tail Mark on her chest. After all- as long as I have this mark on me I can go to all the places only Fairies can get to. Just like that damn island." She peeked over, "Oh, by the way- did you know that Acnologia would show up there?"

"I did not."

Cyrus looked down at the Black Mage and sighed once more, "Yeah I guess you wouldn't." She frowned, "Make sure to keep your guard up."

"I'm aware."

Cyrus nodded, "Well- I'm gonna get out of here before things get ugly." She said then vanished into the shadow at her feet- revealing a cloaked man standing in the tree line.

The man stepped forward- pulling off his hood- revealing spiky black hair. The man stared at the Black Mage with a Blank with an attempted blank look in his eyes- but the pain was noticeable.

Minutes passed with silence- except for the wind rustling through the grass- however both Mages were aware of the others presence.

"Zeref." The man spoke up.

Zeref didn't even peek back at the man behind him, "Is there something you want-" Finally the Black Mage peeked back at the new visitor. "Father."

...FT...

The smoker sat up and looked around- then cursed, the meditator looked over, "Something wrong?"

"Yeah- where the hell is Koroku?" The smoker said, "Don't tell me that he went after the kid-"

The man in the white robes walked into the room, "No he didn't." I know where he is."

"Uh."

The man in the white robed peeked back, "He is trying to stop the war."

The meditator peeked over, "Wait, can he?"

"He hopes he can- but that is not the child he knew back then- he will no longer hear any of his words." The blonde said.

The smoker scowled. _That's gotta hurt like hell..._

"I will go after him, "You two wait here."

"You sure about that?" The smoker asked, "That doesn't sound like a good idea- Koroku's gonna be in a bad mood-"

"Which is why I will go alone." The blonde said then walked out of the room- closing the door behind him.

The smoker sighed, "He's gonna get killed." He turned to the meditator, "Hey I bet a round that he's gonna come back with at least a black eye."

The mediator grinned with a smile that only had two teeth, "You're on."

...FT...

Pain thundered in Koroku's chest as he looked down at his eldest son. "Just checking up on you."

"I am well- as are you it seems." The Black Mage smiled softly to himself, "I should have known that you wouldn't quit. As soon as I heard of Fujimi's existence I should've been aware that you would be on his side so you could stay in the fight." Zeref stood up, "Are you really that much against my decision father?"

Koroku stared at his son's back then spoke up, "I'm not going to sit back while you destroy yourself."

"And what about Natsu?"

Koroku breathed out before speaking, "Natsu is surround by people who care about him- he's not in danger of destroying himself."

"No- he is in danger of me destroying him." Zeref said then looked back at Koroku with dark red eyes and Koroku tensed up. "I am going to kill everybody that he cares about- then he will kill me- that is why he is alive."

Koroku scowled as he looked into the Black Mages red eyes and frowned as the Black Mage cried out in pain, "You need to relax Zeref-"

Then the black cloud of death shot out killing everything as it passed by- the cloud passed Koroku and he didn't even flinch as the plants around him died.

Zeref stared in shock then turned, "It's just as I thought-"

"Don't be a fool Zeref such a thing couldn't even kill back when I was alive." Koroku said simply as he walked forward.

Zeref stared in shock then breathed out and smiled to himself softly, "It is true then you did die- I see, that's what kind of a Mage Sennin Fujimi is." The Black Mage walked forward and just as he passed by Koroku- as fast as lightning- drew his sword and held it out- stopping it only an inch away from Zeref's neck.

The two of them stood silently before Zeref smiled softly at his father. "You and I both know that you won't strike me down- you can't even if you wished to."

Koroku stared ahead- but Zeref could see as the twin blade trembled in his hand as the older man bit his lower lip, "I know that somewhere is the son who did everything he could to protect his brother-"

Zeref looked away.

"Na-" Koroku's voice broke before he took a deep breath- continuing with his voice flat, "Natsu can help you- you know that. That is why I believe that you will not hurt him." He peeked over, "Just like you never would back then."

They were silent for a moment and Koroku lowered his sword. Zeref stared ahead for a moment and looked over- stunned for a moment seeing the empty space where his father stood. Then he chuckled and looked ahead.

"You haven't changed at all." Zeref said as he looked up at the sky, "Father."

...FT...

It was a bright sunny day in the beautiful town of Magnolia. The citizens of the town were peacefully living their lives, Kardia Cathedral stood tall and silent- overlooking the peaceful town as they cleaned up after the festival that had been in town recently. Shops were busy and people were laughing as they made their way to their destination without a care in the world.

It was a perfect day.

Making it the perfect reason for the Fairy Tail Mages to kick open the guild hall doors, to head out on another mission. More than likely heading to cause more trouble and damage to the town then the bandits that they were hired to get rid of them had in the first place.

It was the typical team Natsu- with Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Happy, Wendy, and Carla heading down towards the Train station- the Dragon Slayers not looking too pleased with the idea, but now having much of a choice due to Erza.

Typical day.

Getting on the train- Natsu getting sick before the train even started moving. Wendy's Troia was useless- even if the young Dragon Slayer could still handle the train movement the Fire Dragon's body was growing immune to the Troia.

In the end Erza had to knock out the moaning Dragon Slayer with a swift punch to the stomach.

Gray pretended not to notice as Lucy sighed then looked out the window with a soft smile on her face.

She knew that the Master had said that the ordeal wasn't over-but for now their Fire Dragon Slayer was safe and alive- that made her feel content. It helped that he was surrounded by some of Fairy Tail's strongest Mages.

To her everything felt as if it were back to normal-

Well- almost.

Happy turned to Lucy- seeing the soft smile on her face. The blue Exceed took out a fish and started to munch on it. Then he spoke up, "Hey Lucy?"

"Hmm?" The Celestial Mage looked over, "What is it?"

Happy took the fish out of his mouth, "Why are you smiling- it looks creepy-"

"I'll show you creepy you stupid cat!"

...FT...

Sting sat in the Guild Master's chair with a sigh. Lector looked up at the blonde, "Are you alright Ma- I mean Sting-kun?"

Sting frowned, "I'm fine- I'm just disappointed with those stupid games. I never got to fight Natsu-san."

Yukino giggled, "That seems to be all that he can think about." She whispered to the Exceed.

"Seems so." Lector agreed with a sigh.

"What worries me-" Minerva spoke up- catching the guild's attention, "The entire town was an illusion, not just the games."

Orga scowled, "We still got the prize money- all five of the light guilds did." The brute pointed out with a huff.

Rufus peeked over, "Which must mean that somebody real were behind those games, and if memory serves me correctly the Dark Guilds were after Fairy Tail's Salamander- and they were led by that Lord Shantire."

Yukino frowned, "But if the whole town was an illusion doesn't that mean Shantire was one too?"

"That would explain how no one realized that he was a Mage- yet having so much power." Rogue said, "Which means whoever created those illusions was the real one after Natsu-san."

"But why wait for the games then? And why invite all of us?" Minerva asked, "If this person was truly after the Salamander then why make such a big deal out of it?"

"My head's starting to hurt from all this thinking." Sting groaned and sat forward, "Do we have any idea who created those illusions?"

"Whoever did must be quite powerful to keep them up for so long without anyone noticing."

"Quite correct Milady- those illusions were flawless." Rufus agreed.

Sting frowned and sat back in the seat- glaring ahead.

...FT...

A man in a black cloak stood next to a cliff, he pulled down his hood showing his spiky black hair and charcoal grey eyes. "Are you going to come out?"

I figured you'd want some time alone." The blonde man said as he stepped out of the tree line- keeping out of Koroku's reach, "I can tell that you are upset Koroku."

"Dammit Fujimi!" Koroku yelled and turned, "I want answers!" He glared down at the blonde-haired man.

Fujimi sighed, "I figure you wish to know why I made those last moves..."

"You put Natsu's life in danger- you're damn right I want to know what the hell that was about!"

"The final fight was a part of the plan."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me about that last fight! Then on top of it you send that dumbass smoker as a babysitter to keep me out of the fight!"

Fujimi didn't even flinch and sighed as he sat down, "I sent him because I didn't want you to get involved in the fight- Natsu needed to be put in that position and if you helped that plan would have failed."

"Sound like you really wanted to kill him-"

"No, not at all."

Koroku's eyes widened for a second then he glared ahead, "E.N.D." He waited for a moment for a response, the silence telling all that needed to be said. Then Koroku moved in a flash- the twin blades up to the blonde's throat, "You want that damn thing to wake up!"

"That 'thing' waking up is the key component to that boy's survival." The blonde man said as he carefully pushed the blades away from him. Koroku kept his deadly glare but silently stepped back- letting him continue. "That boy and E.N.D are one of the same but at the same time they are different- separated by merely a wall. If that boy can defeat the demon then he can use its powers to reach his full potential. Only then does he have a chance to survive what is to come."

Koroku watched the man, "Then what of the others?"

"Hmm?"

"You didn't only invite Natsu to those so-called games." Koroku growled as he sheathed his twin blades.

Fujimi sighed and stood up, "Every person I summoned has a role to play in the final fight." The man looked out at the horizon, "War is coming- we should all get ourselves prepared."

Koroku scowled, "It's not coming-" He said as he kicked up the dirt at his feet, "For me, it's been here ever since _that_ day."

Fujimi was silent then slowly nodded then he turned and faded from Koroku's sight and the black-haired man sighed then turned back to looking over the cliff at the town below.

Koroku watched as a train pulled into the station far below him and could see the tiny pink dot as the Fairy Tail Mages got off the train, causing the man to smirk. "Gotta love that hair." The man chuckled.

...FT...

Backenstall sighed as he walked into the room and looked over at the smoker, "Something wrong Mistiro?"

"Surprised to see you alive that's all." The smoker chuckled ads he handed a mug over to the man who had finally moved from his spot- showing his skinny- almost sickly nature, with almost no hair or teeth. "This is for you not giving the living shit beat out of you by a pissed off assassin."

"Just because there's no bruises on his doesn't mean that Koroku didn't kick him around a little."

"How is your magic Level Karnik?"

The meditator peeked over, "Manageable- been in worse." He said, "Besides, you're I'm not old enough not to enjoy a good drink!" The man cheered.

Fujimi sighed, "You created a separate dimension for that final fight- I know that it's not your specialty- make sure to take an easy for a while-"

"I'm fine!" Karnik gave a drunken whine.

The door behind the creaked opened and the three men looked back as Lord Backenstall walked into the room. "What did you find out?" The white robed man asked.

"That Cyrus woman is working with Zeref." Backenstall said then pulled out a glowing sphere and tossed it over to Fujimi, "I was able to pull this from the last fight of the games. It seems that the seal weakened even more."

Mistiro peeked over, "But it's not broken?"

Backenstall shook his head, "Zeref knew what he was doing when he created the seal for that demon- it's not something that would break that easily."

Karnik frowned as he looked over at Fujimi, "And here we are trying to let that thing out?"

"We have no other choice."

Mistiro scowled as he looked at the figurine tied to Backenstall's belt alongside two other ones, immediately recognizing the features of one of the figurines. "Just as I thought, That Shantire wasn't one of Karnik's illusions. He was too damn busy stuffing them in that pocket dimension while keeping up the illusion in this world. That Shantire creep was one of your dolls, wasn't he?"

Backenstall peeked over, "He is not a doll- he is one of my puppets."

Mistiro pointed at the figurine, "Looks like a doll to me- or should I say action figure- sounds less girly that way correct?"

"I'd be careful." Karnik spoke up, "Those 'dolls' of his are enemies that he killed in the past. Their souls were transformed into those dol- sorry puppets." Karnik peeked over, "And Corbas is able to summon them back to their original forms anytime he wants-"

"Almost original." Backenstall said as he looked over at Mistiro, "They no longer have a will of their own- they are only my puppets to use whenever I want."

Mistiro scowled and blew out a puff of smoke, "You're a creepy bastard- no wonder Koroku never liked you."

Backenstall chuckled and turned away, "You could say it's a mutual feeling- now if you excuse me I have some business to take care of."

Then Backenstall left- closing the door behind him and Mistiro leaned back, "Remind me again why that creepy sadist is on our side?"

...FT...

 _Well done Natsu._

Natsu whirled around, "Wha-" He looked up at the top of the cliff near the town and his dragon eyesight allowed him to see the figure of a man standing at the top- however he was too far to see any details besides that he was in all black. Then he blinked and the man was gone, "-Was that?"

"Natsu!" Happy called over, catching the Dragon Slayers attention.

"Are you alright Natsu-san?" Wendy asked worryingly.

"He's fine child." Carla spoke up, "If we don't hurry up we are going to be late for the client." The white Exceed stated impatiently.

Lucy waved him over, "Come on!"

"Let's get going." Erza said with a soft smile on her face as she looked back at the rest of the group.

Gray smirked, "Come on Flamebrain."

Natsu scowled at the Ice Mage but kept quiet (since Erza was close) then he sighed and grinned from ear to ear before running towards the group and the start of their mission.

And most possibly- almost all of their reward being spent on damage costs.

Koroku walked away through the trees with a soft smile on his face as he flipped up his hood.

 _He'll be fine._

 **.**

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 **...FT...**

 **E.N.D. Of book one!**

 **Just to warn you the next chapter is only notes!**

 **Feel free to review!**

 **But no Flames plz!**

 _ **There will be a second book!**_

 _ **The name will be released in the end notes**_

 **Thanks a bunch!**

 **Til next time!**


	18. END Notes

**I was able to finish this story! Yay! I'm super happy!**

 **Thank you for all the reviews that I got through this story and thank you for being patient!**

 **Now the reason I made a separate chapter for this...**

 **The second book will be called**

 **E.N.D Brothers**

 **I decided that I will be leaving out the most recent arc that Hiro has released- so this will be like an alternate ending. I will be doing this just because there's so much that has been released that I don't think that I can squeeze into this series.**

 **For those of you that are caught up with the Fairy Tail series will know what I am talking about.**

 **Another thing is that Hiro supposedly released news that he will be ending Fairy Tail around chapter 600 (Those were the most recent rumors that I heard- I've also heard that this is Mashima's final Arc, but don't quote me). I will not be able to finish this entire series before that. (I am planning on this series being four books if I do continue.)**

 **If you want to look ahead at my ideas for this series they are now on my profile along with the rest of my ideas- so If you wish me to do something that is on the list sooner than later let me know-**

 **PLZ let me know the answer if you have any ideas for the sequel!**

 **Thanks**

 **-Dragneel777**


	19. Testing Fanfic, go back to 17 for new ch

**I am sending this out because I didn't receive a notice for my last post (the one that is supposed to hit you email).**

 **Just to let you guys know (In case you didn't get it either)** **the last chapter is out followed by notes about the second book!**

 **If you did get it and it's just my email acting up sorry for the surprise post about nothing.**

 **Thanks a bunch for following my story and I will post more as soon as I can!**

 **-Dragneel777**


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